What If?
by Bookworm Gal
Summary: A single change can create huge results. How could the whole Season 3 be alter by the smallest change to reality? Chapter 7. What if Jeri took hold of Beelzemon's hand when he tried to save her? It would be a difficult decision, but with amazing results.
1. What if Beelzemon stopped?

**I got the idea for this type of story from Marvel comics. They had a short run of comics called What If? Comics. Basically, they give a chance to see what would happen if something else had happened instead of what occurs in their normal comic universe. Example, what if Electra lived, what if Spider-man had a child (which lead to its own comic line), ect. I thought I could create my own version of that concept. My goal was to make the smallest change as possible to a known storyline, specifically Digimon season 3, to gain the largest change possible. I do not alter a characters personality or what they would normally choose to do in a situation, I just alter one small variable to the equation and examined what would happen. It takes a little time to set up everything, but it picks up speed after the introduction. If you like this type of story, I would be happy to write more What If? stories for other situations. Just let me know. Or you could try yourself.**

What If

_Time and space are so flexible. A single change, a single action, can cause reality to spiral in a new direction. A sad ending can become happy, or a victory can become a defeat. All can be altered by the tiniest events._

_Following the river of what has occurred back to its source, and you can place a tiny pebble and change the flow. Here is one._

_The digimon and their tamers had to be separated because the solution to defeating the D-reaper was affecting the digimon as well. Henry's father had no choice in using that solution because they were running out of time. If the D-reaper had taken more time to cross into the real world, an anti-virus more specific to the D-reaper could have been developed. The reason the D-reaper was able to cross to into the real world so quickly was because it made a deal with Jeri. The only reason she made the deal was because she was so depressed and alone after losing Leomon and no longer wished to feel anything. Leomon was gone because Beelzemon destroyed him. The reason Beelzemon destroyed him and tried to do the same to the other digimon and their tamers was because he made a deal with Chatsuramon. The deal was that in exchange for the power to digivolve, Impmon had to agree to destroy all the humans and their digimon in the digital world. Chatsuramon was able to convince Impmon to take the deal by telling him a combination of lies and half-truths and convinced Impmon his tamers, Ai and Mako, cared nothing for him. Belief in these lies leads Impmon to a path of darkness and destruction as Beelzemon._

_One change, one tiny event, could undo much of the evil and pain created. An alteration to this reality at a key point could send the digimon and their tamers down a different path. It is called the Butterfly Effect. A small change creates drastic changes._

In the real world, a puppy hides from a pair of young brown-haired twins. The two had been fighting as usual, with the cries of "did not, did too" echoing through the home until the puppy had broken loose of their merciless grip and vanished from sight. After a fair amount of searching, the two gave up. Instead, they pulled out the crayons, markers, and paper.

"Mako," began the girl cautiously, unsure where to begin her thoughts.

"What," the boy asked, "are you still blaming me for losing the dog?"

"No, but," she paused, "remember why he ran away from us? We were pulling on his tail and ears, and yelling. He's hiding because we were fighting over him."

"You started it, Ai," Mako grumbled as he picked up a purple crayon.

"But we were fighting and he ran away," she explained, trying to make her point, "And this isn't the first time this has happened either."

"The puppy just likes hiding," Mako tried to rationalize, becoming uncomfortable.

"Not him. Impmon."

Mako stared in silence down at his picture. A purple figure with green eyes, red gloves and bandana, and a short tail stared back at him. These drawings had once worried their parents, because it looked like a small demon, but now they simply accepted the appearance of the twins' "imaginary friend." But he wasn't imaginary. Impmon was real. He had been their friend. But, now he was gone.

Ai continued as Mako stared at the drawing of their friend, "We always fight and he was stuck in the middle. We fought over him, just like out toys and the puppy."

Mako continued for her, in the strange way twins could finish each other's thoughts, "And while our teddy tears apart and our puppy hides, he was able to escape. Our fighting made him go away."

The pair stared in horror at the realization that they made their best friend leave. All this time missing him and hoping for him to come back, and the whole thing was entirely their fault.

"But the dog comes back, after a while. Why doesn't Impmon?" asked Mako quietly.

"We still fight. Why would he want to come back to us fighting?" she answered sadly as a small tear rolled down her cheek.

"So, we stop fighting then," Mako declared as he stood up, looking triumphant. His resolve would have looked more appropriate on a grown man about to enter battle than on the young boy standing in a messy child's room. He was determined to succeed in his brillant plan.

"What do you mean?" asked Ai as she wiped her face.

"If Impmon left because of our fighting, then if we stop fighting, he'll come back."

"But Mommy and Daddy have been trying to stop us from fighting forever."

"But they're only grownups."

And with this logical argument, Ai stood up as well. Her belief in their ability to get Impmon back mirrored her brother's. Their desire for their friend outweighed all their natural inclinations to continue their sibling rivalry. The twins would take on all challenges and no one could stand in their way.

_A tiny change, a small event, and all of can reality shifts. In another reality, their plan would have a while to wait to come to fruition. However, a twist of fate can alter everything._

Ai noticed it first, an oddness in the air. It was like a clear rainbow or an invisible cloud of color hovered near a wall. It was rather pretty and very strange. Neither knew it, but a girl named Suzie had seen something just like it. Just before she vanished before her father's eyes and from this world. It was a portal to the digital world.

Ai stared at it, entranced by the oddness. "Mako, what is that?"

He came out of his dramatic pose to see what his sister was pointing to. His eyes widened at the shifting colors that stood between a tower of blocks and a teddy bear missing an arm. Most people are frightened of the unknown, but the twins were not scared at all. They felt… curious and entranced by the object's appearance. Like it was calling to them.

"I don't know," he began, "but I think we should check it out."

"I don't…" began Ai, but she remembered their promise just a moment before not to fight and she also felt drawn towards it. She did not reject the decision to investigate.

Clasping hands, and not knowing why, they walked towards the warp in the real world. They could see through it to the far wall, but it was a discolored and odd view. Mako did not notice that in his other hand he still held the crayon image of Impmon. The pair reached out to touch the swirling lights and before they realized it, they vanished.

* * *

The power, it was incredible. He was tossing around the pathetic digi-slaves like they were nothing. Beelzemon loved the power. He was no longer a weak rookie, pushed around by everyone who could digivolve. He was a mega, a destroying machine, thanks to Chatsuramon. A simple deal and he could now digivolve. Agree to destroy all the humans and their digimon and he gained the strength to never need anyone's help. Unlike these pathetic weaklings, he would not have to be bound to humans.

Humans. Ai and Mako. His friends. His partners.

He gave a quick growl to himself as he took another shot at that pineapple-head, Wargrowlmon. Forget them. They weren't real partners anyway. No D-arc, not real partners. They didn't really care about him anyway. Replaced him with a stupid dog first chance they got and forgot about him. Who needs them. Not him. He didn't need any stupid humans. None.

The other digimon were getting tired and the humans were getting upset. The fact they were getting beaten would do that to you. Beelzemon was enjoying himself when something caught his eye. Two forms, blurred by distance, had appeared on the broken landscape. As hard to make out as they were, Beelzemon could tell they were humans. Even better, they were unprotected. Grinning evilly, the dark biker-looking digimon broke off his attack in favor of even easier prey.

* * *

Takato looked up when Beelzemon suddenly changed direction. The digimon, guns in hands, had halted his assault so randomly. Takato scanned the horizon, searching for an answer. The brown-haired youth felt his heart stop when he spotted the kids. The goggle-wearing boy could tell they were young, around Suzie age or even younger, and worse, alone and vulnerable to the oncoming threat.

"Rika! Henry!" he shouted, pointing at the problem, "We've got to help them."

Rika, the female cynic of the group, pointed out, "How? We can barely take care of ourselves. Our digimon are getting the snot pounded out of them." She glanced worriedly at the battered form of Taomon, who was trying to rise after a particularly strong blow that occurred right before Beelzemon's distraction. Leomon was helping her up while Rapidmon and Wargrowlmon gained their own footing. The younger and less experienced members (Suzie, Kazu, Kenta, and their assorted digimons) of the team were withdrawing to a safer distance at Henry's urging. Jeri had a look of concern and stood in between the younger group and the main fighters, torn on where she should be and whether she would just be in the way.

Henry came up to where Takato stood, his own face etched with concern. He had to protect his little sister, Suzie, but the new children looked just as young and were in even greater danger. Beelzemon was one of the most bloodthirsty digimon they had seen. It was even worse because they could all remember when he was that annoying little Impmon, throwing fireballs in the park at all the couples.

"Takato's right. We have to do something. He'll kill them," shouted Henry at Rika. "There must be some way to stop him."

"I don't think that is going to a problem right now," stated Taomon as she turned their attention back to Beelzemon's form.

* * *

So easy. Two helpless little children, alone in the digital world. This deal is going to be so easy. Two helpless, young, brown-haired children. A boy and a girl. Who look so familiar…

Beelzemon stopped dead, shock rushing through him, pushing back his new fury and violence. Not them, please, not them. They can't be here, not them. Why them. He heard his guns hit the ground. He didn't realize he had dropped them. He couldn't move, and he couldn't stop thinking "not them." No matter how many times he tried to remind himself they did not care about him, that they never cared, and he should destroy them now, he couldn't. They may have forgotten about him, but he just couldn't forget them.

Ai and Mako stood, confused and frightened, right before him. They stood about twenty feet away now, but it might as well have been miles. In Mako's left hand was a piece of paper that the wind snatched away. It came to rest at Beelzemon's feet, and it came like a punch to the stomach. It was a drawing of him as Impmon, with Ai and Mako standing beside him. They missed him. They loved him. And he was about to try to destroy them.

He forced himself to take a step forward. It was the hardest thing he ever had to do. They took a step back. They were afraid. Of him, their friend? No, they were afraid of a monster. A monster that would have killed without thinking, without caring what he was doing. That was the price he had been willing to pay. It was too much.

"Chatsuramon, they weren't part of the deal," he screamed towards the sky. He didn't know how he knew he would be around, but he just did. The twins jerked in surprise at the sound of his voice, but it had the desired effect.

"I thought the deal was _all_ humans in the digital world, not just most," the dog Deva chuckled as he came up beside Beelzemon. His arrival was mysterious, but that seemed to be traditional for pain in the neck powerful digimon.

"Save it, Dog-breath," growled Beelzemon in anger, "First off, they weren't here when we made the deal. Second, you lied to me, didn't you?"

The light-blue digimon glared at Beelzemon, "You work for the Sovereign. You don't focus on technicalities and believe you have enough authority to speak to your betters in such a way."

"You haven't answered my question. You lied, didn't you!"

"I only showed you the truth about humans you were too blind to see on your own, in a way even you could understand."

Beelzemon could feel his previous desire for destruction and pain rising, but he shoved it down, fearing what it could lead to for his friends. "I am not touching them, you mangy mutt."

"Very well, I will accept they were not part of the original agreement and you do not have to kill them."

Beelzemon could feel his shoulders relax until he heard the words, "So I'll destroy them myself."

* * *

The tamers stared as Beelzemon stood motionless in front of the helpless children. He dropped his guns and even took a step back. His assault had stopped before it even begun. The children were obviously terrified by him, but he was doing nothing to them.

"I don't get it. Why did he stop? Why is just… standing there?" asked Takato.

"It's the kids," Henry whispered, voicing all their thoughts out loud. "He stopped because of them. But why?"

"I think…" began Taomon slowly, "I've seen them before. I'm not sure, because of how far they are, but I think that…"

She was interrupted as Beelzemon shouted, "Chatsuramon, they weren't part of the deal." Everyone was startled by his sudden outburst, but they were even more surprised by the blue dog's appearance.

The two digimon began arguing, but the tamers could not make out the words. Beelzemon seemed especially angry while Chatsuramon looked calm and collected.

"I thought that traitorous jerk worked with dog-boy now," growled Rika.

"Doesn't look like it now," Jeri pointed out, just before Chatsuramon shot towards the two exposed children.

* * *

No warning, no chance to do anything almost. Beelzemon barely had time to acknowledge the Deva's words or even think before the attack. Fortunately, he didn't think before he acted. Not bothering to grab his guns, he shoved himself sideways into the moving digimon. They missed the frightened twins and they respectively tumbled to a stop.

"No, not them. You can't TOUCH THEM!!!" Beelzemon screamed in anger.

"You just attacked me," the Deva seemed amused more than anything, "After all the power you received, you attacked me."

"News flash," he growled, "I quit. Consider this my resignation. Darkness Claw!"

His attack flew towards Chatsuramon, but he leapt out of the way. "Go back to killing the other tamers and enjoy the strength given by the Soveriegn; I'll finish your job here for you." With that, he launched himself back at the cowering boy and girl.

Beelzemon, operating not on logic but on pure desire to protect Ai and Mako, flung himself in front of oncoming threat. A flash of pain shot through his body, and he felt all his new strength evaporating. His smaller body bounced away, battered and bruised. When he came to rest, he could feel darkness swallowing him up.

"Great, I join the pineapple-head's 'digi-slave' team and look what happens," he thought towards himself, but without real resentment. Impmon, as he lost consciousness, could hear two voices screaming his name as when he collapsed, but he was unable to offer them anymore protection or help of any kind.

* * *

Everyone was stunned by the attack, but it was even greater when Beelzemon stopped it. Only Taomon looked like it was not the most surprising event ever.

"What's going on?" Rika shouted in frustration, "Two seconds ago, he was trying to kill us and now he's playing hero." Her voice was almost drowned out by another shout by Beelzemon.

"We need to help him," whispered Jeri suddenly, "You don't get it, do you?"

"What?" Rika asked.

"He has to protect them," Taomon explained, her earlier suspicions being confirmed by his actions. "He's not going to stop."

"Are we talking about the same guy, the one who hates humans?" asked Henry.

"You don't see it?" asked Jeri.

Suddenly, their attention was snatched by a pair of horrified screams from the young children. The tamers heads snapped back to the battle. The pounded form of Impmon flew away from Chatsuramon, and landed heavily a distance away. Instead of continuing to cowering away from the two digimon, the young pair were staring at the purple imp lying motionless and yelling "Impmon!!!" Even at the distance, they were obviously crying.

"We have to do something," whispered Takato in a determined voice.

* * *

Chatsuramon glared in disgust at the fallen body of the traitorous digimon. He had so much potential, so much hate for humans. If only those two had stayed in the human world. Too bad, might as well eliminate the weakling quickly and clean up the mess he left. The dog Deva approached the unconscious rookie. When he was no more than five feet away, he felt something hit his head. He turned.

The two humans stood defiantly, tears rolling down their cheeks and rocks in hand. They threw a rock at him!? The girl repeated the attack, but he moved his head slightly and it missed.

"Leave Impmon alone," she yelled.

"Bad dog," the boy shouted, adding insult to injury, "Go away."

"I am not one of your pets," the Deva snarled at them, turning away from the helpless digimon. "I do not take orders from any human. You will pay for your insolence."

The two humans were shaking as he approached, but that did not stop them from tossing more stones in his direction. He was so focused on the disrespectful pair before him, he did not see the attack before it struck.

* * *

Wargrowlmon, Rapidmon, and Taomon combined their attacks and struck the distracted Deva in the side. They managed to knock him sideways, similar to how Beelzemon had before, but this time he did not seem amused. While Chatsuramon faced off against his newest assailants, Leomon and Jeri worked their way towards the twins.

Jeri approached the frightened duo alone, with Leomon close enough to offer assistance but far enough not to scare them more. She gently took the twins hands in hers.

"Come on, we need to get out of here" she called them, pulling gently as she did. Two brown-haired head shook stubbornly.

The girl pointed towards her friend, "We can't leave Impmon alone."

Leomon, seeing the problem, hurried to grab the battered figure from the ground and out of danger. Seeing the lion digimon moving towards Impmon, the young pair looked concern.

"Don't worry," soothed Jeri, "He's my friend. He'll take care of him." Regardless of the fact he had been a murderous monster not long ago, he was now hurt and had been hurt protecting these two kids. They had to help.

Jeri tugged the twins, leading them away from the battle and towards safety, with Leomon bringing up the rear with the purple digimon in his arms.

* * *

The battle was not going well. The trio of digimon was still worn out from their encounter with Beelzemon and Chatsuramon was not only tough, but also fresh for the fight. Various attacks shot out from all three, but they seemed to have little effect on the canine digimon. Finally, Chatsuramon used one of his own attacks, apparently bored with the battle. When he finished, Taomon, Rapidmon, and Wargrowlmon laid exhausted on the ground. Their human tamers ran to their fallen friends as Chatsuramon began speaking. He apparently was trying to explain to the digimon about the foolishness of forming attachments to humans, but the humans and digimon ignored him. All the Devas had tried similar speeches at some point.

"Wargrowlmon…" began Takato slowly, "we can't let him win, but we can't beat him."

"Takatomon," answered Wargrowlmon using the name he had called his tamer when they first met. "We can."

A bright glow surrounded them, blinding Rika, Henry, and everyone else nearby. It even interrupted Chatsuramon's speech. When the glow faded away, Takato was nowhere in sight. And neither was Wargrowlmon. Instead a tall, red figure holding a lance and a shield stood in their place. He looked like a knight right out of the Middle Ages, if that knight had characteristics similar to Guilmon's appearance.

Henry pulled out his D-arc and read "Gallantmon: Mega level, his Lightning Joust and Shield of the Just make a powerful combination."

"Is that Guilmon?" asked Rika awestruck by the sight, "then where's Takato."

"I…think that is both," gasped Taomon is shock.

"Is that even possible" wondered Henry.

"Who cares? It's happening," answered Rapidmon.

"Impossible!" shouted an outraged Chatsuramon, "How dare that digimon degrade himself to the point of combining with a human?"

Meanwhile, Takato was freaking out about how cool this was. He had always loved digimon, and now he was one. He didn't know how, but he had combined with his best friend to form Gallantmon. And Chatsuramon had a lot to answer for.

"Hey Fido," called Gallantmon, "Lightning Joust!" He flew towards his opponent with the lance before him. The Deva did not have time to respond before the blow reached him. The power behind the attack knocked the dog digimon tumbling across the landscape, in a mirror image of how Impmon had. Unfortunately, Chatsuramon was still able to fight upon impact, rising with a look of surprise and disgust.

"Stupid, traitorous digimon. You betray your own kind to side with humans?! How can a monstrosity like you even live with yourself? How dare you go against the will of the Digimon Sovereign like this? You are an insult to digimon everywhere."

"And what of you, Chatsuramon?" asked Gallantmon, "You lie and trick digimon into doing your dirty work. And when they refuse, you try to destroy them yourself. You claim you and your sovereign are working for the good of all digimon kind, but all I've seen so far is suffering. Humans and digimon can work together and we're better off as a team than we ever could be alone."

"Lies!" he shouted as he launched himself once more at the Biomerged digimon.

"Truth," answered Gallantmon back, "Shield of the Just!"

A beam of light shot of his shield and struck the enraged digimon full on. With a scream of pain outrage, the Deva dissolved into data until it was as if he never was. All the tamers and their digimon looked at Gallantmon in amazement, until Rapidmon opened his mouth.

"I call Biomerging next!"

* * *

The tamers had form into a circle once the danger had passed, so they could gather their strength and try to understand all that had transpired. The twins and the knocked-out shape of Impmon were clearly the center of attention. They stared as the two young children glanced around, their eyes nearly bugging out of their heads as they took in the varied digimon mingled with an assortment of older kids. They had positioned themselves on either side of Impmon, but whether it was in hopes of protection from him or they were planning to protect him was unclear.

Takato felt he would have to break the tension, so he knelt down beside them and asked the first question that came to mind, "So, what's your names?"

"I'm Ai and this is my brother, Mako," answered the girl, pointed towards them respectively. "Is that your digimon? He looks like a dino."

"Uh… yeah, he is. His name is Guilmon," he responded.

"He looks nice. Do all of you have digimon?"

"Not Kenta," teased Kazu, standing beside his own partner Guardromon.

"Well, you haven't had one for long either, so it's only a matter of time," shouted Kenta back at him.

"Would you to knock it off for five minutes, you losers," yelled a frustrated Rika.

"Keep it down, can't you see some digimon are trying to sleep," mumbled a surprising voice.

Ai and Mako's heads snapped around at the sound of Impmon's tired voice. They grabbed him, gently, and started crying and apologizing. His green eyes flew open and he seemed surprised as well.

"We're so sorry. We'll never fight again. Please don't go away. We love you and missed you so much. And we promise we'll be good forever and ever," they cried into his shoulders, tears rolling down their face. They were terrified he would leave again, and they would never see them.

"Cut out the water works. I don't do mushy stuff," Impmon complained, but his normal Brooklyn accent was not as sarcastic or annoyed as usual. He was glad they were safe. "Chill out already. I'm here, so what's the problem." He then noticed the audience that was watching the reunion with stunned expressions.

"The first one of you who says anything, I'll Badda-Boom you all the way back to human world. That means you, Bunny-boy." Terriermon's mouth snapped shut with an audible click.

The two young children clinging to him were still apologizing through their tears, so he turned his attention back to them. He tried to ignore the others, as hard as it was. He had spent so much time complaining to all those gathered about how much he hated humans and he didn't need them, and now he was going to have to eat those words. But somehow, it wasn't going to be as bad as he once thought.

"Ai, Mako, I promise, I'm not going anywhere. So cut out the mush already, please. I'm getting soaked."

This got a little giggle from the twin heads buried in his shoulders and they looked up at him. They seemed so relieved at this and so happy to have him back. How could he have believed for one moment that they never cared about him? Stupid Chatsuramon.

"Awwww…" called a mocking Terriermon, until he was hit by a well aimed fireball.

"So, anyone want to explain what's going on yet?" asked Kazu.

"Are you really that blind?" groaned Rika, exasperated at his stupidity.

"I've seen them before," explained Renamon, "Impmon, you were watching them outside their window once. I remember. They're your partners, aren't they?"

"Him? Who would want to be his partner?" called Terriermon, who never seemed to learn. Another fireball was launched at him.

_Leomon lives and Impmon gains his partners sooner. The D-reaper must find a new way to the real world. A different solution to the D-reaper is found and the digimon remain with their friends who love them. A tiny change results in huge effects. A portal between the human world and the digital was all it took. Like ripples in a pool, a small event spreads out to affect the whole reality. _

**What do you think? The scene of the talk between Ai and Mako was never shown in the TV show, but later events suggest that something similar to this must have occurred. I always felt that, by following cause and effect, a lot of what occurs was Chatsuramon's fault, because of what he did with Beelzemon, so I decided to take him out. He always annoyed me as being too obsessed with hating humans, like the rest of the Devas, but tricking Impmon was going too far. Let me know if you want other What If? stories. **

**P.S. I own nothing.**


	2. What if Jeri stayed silent?

**Okay, I am continuing my What If? scenarios for two reasons. One, I have received at least some feedback that there are people who like it. Two, I had too much fun with the first one. This one, however, is not as happy. It does not make everything better. The thing to remember with these is that they are not a continuing storyline. Each chapter is by itself, so do not be surprised if chapters seem to contradict each other. Each one has a different tiny change to reality, so each one will have different results. This is still season 3 of digimon, so the characters will be the same, but this time the twins have not entered the digital world and Beelzemon did not stop from attacking Leomon. Everything has been reset to how the show occurred. Hope you like it and I don't depress too many people.**

_Time and space are so flexible. A single change, a single action, can cause reality to spiral in a new direction. A sad ending can become happy, or a victory can become a defeat. All can be altered by the tiniest events._

_A tiny change in reality can spawn enormous consequences. Some are good and improve upon what could have occurred. Others undo what could have been a success. A person's actions or lack of action can have far reaching results, far beyond what they may think possible. An individual may cause more problems than they solve with a one choice._

_Beelzemon committed a horrible crime in murdering Leomon. However, that was not his only influence upon the world. Many of his later actions helped to protect those who would otherwise suffer. At a single point in space and time, though, his life hung in the balance. The choice of one soul could decide whether he would live or die. This decision was a difficult one, and could have gone either way._

_It is called the Butterfly Effect. A small change creates drastic changes._

Jeri felt lke her heart was broken. Leomon was gone, stolen from her by Beelzemon. Takato had been furious and Guilmon had become a monster reflecting that rage. Jeri had witnessed the terrifying transformation and saw them overcome their anger to become Gallantmon. Now he was battling against the murderous Beelzemon. She felt so cold and alone, her D-arc showing empty static. Gallantmon continued his battle, destroying a monster she hated for taking her partner. Now she saw Beelzemon falling, beaten. She didn't want to see him die. She didn't want to see any more deaths.

_In another time, another place, she forced herself to speak out. To defend her partner's killer, she overcame her hate, loneliness, and despair. However, here and now, she couldn't bring up the courage to face the pain; she failed to speak out in time._

It hurt too much, she couldn't say a word. She hesitated, on the verge of calling out, but then it was too late. Gallantmon did not stop. Jeri watched another death. It hurt to watch, and she still couldn't speak out. She watched him dissolve, just as Leomon had when Beelzemon struck him. Revenge offered her no comfort, only more pain, more sadness, and more heart-ache. If only there was a way to undo the suffering she felt. She would give anything to no longer feel this awful.

_Time passes. The tamers and their digimon eventually return to the human world, minus one digimon: Impmon. The D-reaper invades, following the retreating group back. Back in the human world, the digimon and the tamers can no longer Biomerge. Able to only reach the Ultimate level, Guilmon, Renamon, and Terriermon still try to fight the danger._

No matter what attack the trio threw at the D-reaper, the pink mass did not seem to be affected. Wargrowlmon growled in frustration as Rapidmon was hit by the super virus. They were losing this fight. Taomon tried another of her attacks, but she might as well have been throwing water balls for all the damage that was occurring. The pink blob had so many altering additions, including this ghost-like pumpkin-headed freak attached to the main mass by strong threads that they were currently fighting. They kept flying around, striking the struggling group.

Finally, the three digimon were captured by the very object they were trying to destroy. Their human partners were horrified by their inability to help. They couldn't Biomerge, their cards were next to useless, and their friends were trapped.

Takato, frustrated beyond his ability to handle by his helplessness, turned his head to the sky and screamed, "We need help."

_In another reality, his cry would have been answered. His friends would be saved and they would be able to fall back for another attack. Sadly, in this time and in this place, there was no one who would be able to help._

And the D-reaper fulfilled his purpose. It destroyed data that had evolved too far. Thus, having fulfilled its primary purpose, it turned its attention back towards the human world, oblivious to the screams of pain by the digimon or the cries of the humans.

_Takato, Henry, and Rika were now alone, just as Jeri had been left alone. Alice and Doberman arrived too late to give them a gift, the ability to Biomerge in the human world. So they joined the remaining digimon and tamers in the fight against the D-reaper. Unfortunately, the fight was a losing one. Jeri remained trapped within the D-reaper sphere. The pink mass spread from the epicenter, consuming the city as it went. The inhabitants were forced to flee from the more distant homes in order to remain safe. Takato, Rika, and Henry, unable to defend the human world personally, did their best help in other ways. Hypnos was assisting with evacuations, so the three ex-tamers volunteered their services. _

"Okay, everyone needs to be out in five minutes," called Henry.

"If they were smart, they'd already be gone. Most people have already left the area," Rika remarked sarcastically. She was even snippy than she used to be. The loss of Renamon was hitting her hard. All their losses were hard to bear.

"Could you give us a few minutes to gather a few things?" a tired looking woman asked, "This is our second move so far."

"Sure, just hurry," answered Henry.

"Thanks," she then turned her attention to two small children with her, "Ai, Mako, wait out here with your bags. Don't wander off and don't fight."

"But Mommy, we have to leave a…" the girl began.

"Stay here, Ai," she ordered, and then reentered the house.

Takato was staring off, remembering his best friend, when a voice broke through his thought. "I saw you guys on TV."

Takato turned to face a small, brown haired boy. He was holding onto a teddy bear with a stitched on arm. The boy was also staring at the older kid in amazement.

"You had the digimon and were fighting the big, pink thing," the girl continued, picking up right where her brother left off. It was apparently a common occurrence for them, because he didn't even blink. They were likely twins.

"Yeah, but they're gone now," Takato whispered.

"Did they run away? Ours did," the girl Ai told him.

"Wait, you had a digimon?" asked Rika suddenly.

"Yes, but we used to fight. A lot," explained Mako, looking down. "He would be stuck in the middle of our fights."

"Because of that, he ran away from us. We miss him, but maybe he'll come back?" Ai continued hopefully.

"We want him to come back. We want to say sorry. We love him," Mako told them. "We left him a note at home, before we left. That way he could find us."

"But, Mommy won't let us write one this time. She says we have to go now. What if we he comes here looking for us? He'll think we ran away this time. What if he thinks we don't love him? Maybe he left because he thought we didn't love him," At this point both of them began to cry.

Henry, with his experience with Suzie, knelt down and gave them both a hug. When they calmed down some, he let go and looked carefully. "What if we keep an eye out for him? We are very good at finding digimon. What do you think?"

The twins looked at the gathered trio in pure amazement and joy. Takato remembered having a similar look before. When he first met Guilmon, the first time they had beaten a wild digimon, when he had digivolved into Growlmon, when they entered the digital world, and the first time he became Gallantmon were all marked by that mixture of happiness and wonder. It was the feeling of knowing that your best friend would always be there and even if you were apart, you would see each other again soon. He missed feeling that way so much. He missed Guilmon. They had to find the kids' partner. They deserved to have that, for as long as they can.

"You'll find him? Really?" Ai asked.

"Sure we will," Takato answered.

"I'm sure he's looking for you guys too," inserted Rika, coming out of her cynicism and anger long enough to feel empathy for the two children. She missed Renamon, but that was no reason to take it out on these kids that missed their friend just as much.

"Okay, Ai, Mako, we're ready to go," called their mother as she left the house carrying a heavy looking bag. One of the Hypnos guys came over and took it out of her hands, much to her apparent relief. The twin went to join their mother as they proceeded to board the transport bus that was being used to move the refugees.

"Oh, I almost forgot," called Takato as the climbed on, "What's your digimon's name?"

"It's Impmon," Ai told them as her mother pulled her on board. The three ex-tamers felt cold at the name. They remained frozen to the spot even as the bus pulled away.

"Impmon," Rika whispered, breaking the silence. "He always said he didn't need humans, that he hated them."

"You know how he was," Henry pointed out, no one looking at each other. "He always talked big, trying to convince everyone. He was trying to convince himself as well."

Takato spoke the thought that they were hoping to avoid, "How do we tell them? How do we tell them that their friend became a monster? A murderous monster that hated everything and wanted only power. How can we tell them that Gallantmon… That I killed him?"

Rika turned to him, "Goggle-head, you didn't have many choices," she told him, in a surprisingly serious and non-sarcastic tone. "He would have destroyed everyone. He was crazy. He wasn't the same little purple annoyance that threw fireballs in the park. He wasn't the same digimon that ran away from them."

"Nothing we could say can help them," Henry told them, "It can only hurt. Come on, there are more houses to evacuate."

_The D-reaper continued his rampage. The human world and the digital were slowly being consumed. Every attack launched, every defense placed, was knocked aside by the ever growing pink goo. The humans and digimon alike fled to safer locations, until there was nowhere else to go. One by one, the D-reaper swallowed up all that laid before it. Both worlds became oceans of pink. Deep inside the center, wrapped tight by the monstrous virus in a perfect sphere, was the final living soul._

Jeri had felt nothing for so long now. The pain, the sadness, the loneliness was gone. She had almost forgotten what it felt like to suffer from emotions. She knew Leomon was dead, but the true meaning of this was gone. Everything was gone. Time did not seem to pass in her sanctuary, her prison. There was no point in it. What was the point in anything? Emotions had caused nothing but sorrow to her, so she gave them up. Now, she felt nothing. Nothing at all.

"Complete Digimon and human destruction in both worlds now complete," a voice announced. Jeri barely noticed it sounded like her. "Human Jeri Katou no longer needed. Destruction of final human will now commence."

Jeri felt nothing. She had felt nothing for a long time. This was no different. She felt neither fear, nor dread, nor guilt. She did not feel anything as the sphere collapsed around her. She felt nothing as red wires and pink goo proceeded to surround her. She had surrendered her feelings long ago. Jeri felt nothing.

_One voice, if it had spoken out, could have saved the world. But only silence had been heard. Now both worlds are silent and empty as the D-reaper once more slumbers. Without a brave warrior to save the defenders of both worlds, they had fallen to their enemy. And without them to defend the worlds, everything came undone. _

**Wow, that was depressing. Amazing how speaking out can make a real difference. This chapter was shorter than the last and kind of jumps around. Still, I like demonstrating the changes that can result when a tiny variation to reality occurs. Hopefully, the next one will be a happier ending. Let me know what you think and whether I should continue with this. I like getting feedback, and I sometimes take your advice (if it is good and I can do it well enough).**

**P.S. I own nothing.**


	3. What if Impmon couldn't get directions?

**

* * *

**

This chapter is a little different, in that it shows how even when things change they can also remain the same. Rather than having one event spiraling the entire reality into a new one, this time it tries to spiral back and has fewer long term effects. I appreciate all the feedback I have been receiving so far. I will try to have more chapters, but it is getting hard to find key points where only the slightest change is needed in season 3 that I can do well. I still have at least one more idea after this, so don't worry. And now, on with the show.

_Time and space are so flexible. A single change, a single action, can cause reality to spiral in a new direction. A sad ending can become happy, or a victory can become a defeat. All can be altered by the tiniest events._

_Other times, reality's grasp is too strong on a certain path to turn aside. Even when circumstances have altered, a person's desire to fulfill their duty can overcome the change. They will struggle against the challenges so that reality will bend back towards how it should be._

_It is called the Butterfly Effect. A small change causes drastic changes. But it can be changed back._

Back in the human world after all this time. It seems impossible. Impmon had been sure he was a goner. And why not? He was a horrible person. He killed Leomon, who had just been trying to talk sense into him. He was sure he had been about to die when Gallantmon had shown up and beat the snot out of him. But Jeri stopped the Biomerged digimon; Jeri, whose partner Beelzemon had just destroyed, had begged her avenger for the killer's life. Next, disgusted at himself, he had believed he would die and was even welcoming it. Chrysalimon attacked him and he did nothing to protect himself. Instead Rika and Kyubimon risked being left in the digital world to find him, save him, and to bring him back.

Impmon was at a loss. He destroyed and betrayed these guys, and they still wouldn't leave him behind. They were willing to give him a second chance, or at least a chance to have a second chance. The trip back was so uncomfortable. They were all packed inside together, humans and digimon. Guilmon was talking to the craft in that familiar dorky way. The two boys, Kazu and Kenta, or Twiddle Dumb and Twiddle Dumber, were babbling on about something or other. Jeri simply stared, her eyes emotionless and soulless. Impmon just couldn't look at her or anyone. Still, they hadn't tossed him out, which was more than he had expected or hoped for.

When they arrived back in the human world, though, he got away from them as soon as he could manage. He had his own task to accomplish, if he could work up the nerve. If, after all he had done, they still could give him enough of a chance by not killing him, he should be able to give a second chance or two himself.

* * *

_A teacher, a mentor, an open-minded individual was in another part of this reality. He could influence young people with his teaching. He could also give a lost soul hope with his words. But in order to help those need his guidance, he must first meet them._

Henry's sensei was wondering what route he should take. He had somewhere important to go, but he had a few choices on how to get there. He could walk there, which would take more effort, but he would not have to leave as early. Or he could take the train, which he would have to leave immediately in order to get on board, but he could relax on the ride. It did not seem to be important, but you could never tell how one small event or decision could affect the future.

_If he waits to walk, he would have an important encounter. He would set a person who had lost his way, both figurative and literally, to find his true path._

Wondering if his choice was sound, this teacher left to catch the train with a sense of unease following him.

* * *

Returning to a house he left long ago, Impmon did not find what he was seeking. The two young children he had fled from in stupid anger and frustration no longer filled the rooms with their shouts. A lot of the houses nearby were silent, their inhabitants likely fleeing from the pink blob that was the D-reaper. Stupid giant wad of bubble gum. He entered the familiar room. Memories of their impromptu tug-a-war game using him flashed in his mind before he shoved it away. He couldn't find a single hint of where to search for them next. Until he found a sheet of paper with his picture.

In addition to his face, the paper was also covered in writing. Obviously, the twin's plan was to leave him a note in case he came by. There was just one problem.

He couldn't read.

* * *

Okay, try to be nice and friendly. That will definitely be a challenge. Still, he had to try. Frightening people and throwing fireballs can only get him so far. And as fun as it is, most people are not inclined to stick around and do favors after that sort of treatment. The purple digimon took a deep breath as he prepared to approach the humans in a nice and not sarcastic way.

"Excuse me," he said, as he addressed his first attempt, trying to mimic some of the people's words he heard before. The guy's reaction was not the same, as he ran away from Impmon. "Yeah, well same to you buster!"

This type of conversation was continued for quite a while, with the digimon attempting to be friendly while the humans freaked out. He didn't even get this good of results when he was _trying_ to scare people. Honestly, what did he have to do just to get one note read?

_One of the few humans who would stop to help him because he could see the good below the surface would be there to help him, in another reality. He could have spoken to the digimon and would give him confidence in his ability to help instead of hurt. He could help him find his way. Sadly, in this time and place, this individual was on a train, traveling away from the person who needed him most._

Finally, frustrated and one person away from tossing fireballs at all the humans in the area, Impmon leaned against the wall in surrender. He looked at the note, hoping to decipher the random lines into some form of knowledge. Unfortunately, they were completely gibberish and remained that way. He decided that if he couldn't figure out the letter, he would have to find Ai and Mako the old fashion way: by looking.

He was looking for an easy way to get to the rooftop, his preferred way to travel, when something caught his eye. Down the street, past the cringing people, was an electronic store with a TV on in the window. Most of the screen was pink. As he approached the store, Impmon realized it was a news article about the D-reaper. He couldn't hear it, but apparently the giant mass of pink goo was disturbing the citizens. Suddenly another figure appeared on screen. Taomon flew backwards, being followed by a figure. It looked like a Halloween reject. A sheet covered body was topped by a jack-o-lantern that would make the Head-less Horseman proud. It was sporting a scythe and dragging a red cord connected to the main body of the D-reaper. As Impmon watched, Wargrowlmon and Rapidmon both made their TV debut. They were fighting the wraith, but it was looking fairly one-sided so far.

"Great, the human-lover fan club is in over their head," muttered Impmon, mad at what he was considering. Stupid idea, it's a very stupid idea. He wanted to forget and go back to his own mission. Sadly, his new found conscience would not let him. The same desire to find the twins and give them a second chance would not let him ignore the danger to the others. They were the closest things he had to friends currently.

"Okay, that's just pathetic, Impmon," he informed himself. "They hate you and with good reason. And they are your only friends? That's just sad."

He groaned in frustration. No amount of arguing with himself (which he _knew_ was a sign he was going insane) was going to change what he was going to do. He pulled himself up the fire escape with practiced ease. Once he reached the roof, and was once again in his element, he ran. Not towards a possible location of Ai and Mako, but towards the pink blob and nearly certain destruction. He was a rookie; the others were at the ultimate level and they were being pounded. What hope did he have? None what so ever. But he had to try, just as Rika and Kyubimon had to try to find him. Just as Leomon had to try to stop the crazed rampage of Beelzemon.

Impmon was determined to help somehow, to prove his worth, and to demonstrate to everyone, including himself, that he could do something right. He could do something good. He barely noticed the surge of power rushing through him, though once he would have focused on nothing else. As he leapt to the next roof, he landed in a different form. Once more, he looked like an evil biker. Red eyes stared out at the human world, but they did not see useless humans that needed to be destroyed as he once would have as Beelzemon. Instead, he saw potential, a chance, in every person to shape their own destiny. Just as he planned to. He would be a Deva's pawn no longer. He would do as he wished, and he wished to redeem himself.

_If he had been reunited to his friends, he could have gained more power. He could have flown to rescue and defend his his fellow digimon. Until he joined Ai and Mako once more, he would be unable to unlock his true potential._

* * *

The fight was not going well. No matter what attack the trio threw at the D-reaper, the pink mass did not seem to be affected. Wargrowlmon growled in frustration as Rapidmon was hit by the super virus. They were losing this fight. Taomon tried another of her attacks, but she might as well have been throwing water balls for all the damage that was occurring. The pink blob had so many altering additions, including this ghost-like pumpkin-headed freak attached to the main mass by strong threads that they were currently fighting. They kept flying around, striking the struggling group.

Finally, the three digimon were captured by the very object they were trying to destroy. Their human partners were horrified by their inability to help. They couldn't Biomerge, their cards were next to useless, and their friends were trapped.

Takato, frustrated beyond his ability to handle by his helplessness, turned his head to the sky and screamed, "We need help."

Overhead, dashing across the top of the buildings, a figure shouted, "One miracle, coming right up."

The three tamers stared as Beelzemon ran along the roofs towards the struggling digimon. He looked exactly like he had when he attacked back in the digital world. He had the same expression on his face of determination. He drew his guns.

"Oh great, come to shoot us while we can't fight back?" asked a snide Rapidmon at Beelzemon's appearance.

"It's nothing like that," the black clothed digimon answered back. "I've come to lend a hand. Double Impact!"

He fired his weapons at the red wires trapping the digimon. The attack of a mega had a stronger effect than those of the ultimates. The bindings loosened enough for the trio to pull free.

"Interesting choice," Taomon informed him, "Coming to rescue the 'digi-slaves?' How very unlike you."

"Yeah, yeah, save it, Toots. We still have that pumpkin joker flying around," Beelzemon shot back.

All four digimon aimed their attacks at the swooping figure, and fired. When the smoke cleared, Wargrowlmon had to move fast to dodge the swinging scythe. The creep didn't seem to have noticed their earlier attempt to destroy it. Suddenly, Henry shouted at the airborne (except Beelzemon) digimon.

"The cord. That's how it's getting its power. Break the connection."

Beelzemon, stared at his new target with unease. It was too small and moving to much with the flying dork to be shot easily. He could only think of one way to cut the thread, and he was really not looking forward to it.

"Pineapple-head, get ready to catch," he shouted as he jumped off his rooftop in a suicide mission.

"No!" shouted the stunned humans as he fell towards the pink mass.

"Darkness Claw!" His razor sharp claws made contact with the trailing cord and ripped through it. He grabbed the retreating end that lead to the flailing form. The D-reaper wraith flung Beelzemon through the air. Right into Wargrowlmon's waiting grip.

Taomon and Rapidmon peppered the creature with their attacks. Without the continuous inflow of power from the main blob, the shape dissolved away under their onslaught. The waiting tamers cheered at their friend's success.

* * *

"Thanks Beelzemon for the help," Rika told him, "We can't tell you how surprised we were to see you."

The park at sunset had many memories for him. Mostly of him terrorizing couples on dates, but now it was the scene of another type of interaction he was less familiar with. Specifically a friendly conversation. Three ultimate level and one mega level digimon and three humans were gathered near the line of trees. Needless to say the seven of them had their privacy.

"I'll say," Rapidmon added, "I was sure you were coming to cream us. After what you did to Leomon…"

"Rapidmon," Henry warned in a threatening manner, but even the rabbit digimon seemed to realize that he might have gone too far that time.

He wanted to attack Bunny-boy for that comment. But, he couldn't. Nothing that he had said was wrong. Beelzemon knew that he deserved anything they could throw at him. He waited silently until Takato broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Well, again thanks."

"Yeah, well," the biker digimon muttered slowly. He reached into his jacket carefully. "Could one of you guys do me a favor then?"

"Sure," answered a confused Takato.

"Great," he pulled out the note. It was a little worse for wear from being shoved in a jacket and being carried around through a battle, but the writing was still legible. "Then could one of you read this for me and not give me a hard time?"

Henry took the paper, his eyes went across the page and his eyebrows rose in surprise. "Beelzemon, who is this from?"

"A couple of people who deserve a second chance. And I'm going to give it to them."

_Though reality tried to twist him away from his path, he persevered to find his destiny. While not at full power, he came to rescue those who saved him when he did not deserve it. Though he could not find his guide back home, he found a new way to return. Upon his reunion, he will gain the true power that only his partners can give and then he can continue the fight against the D-reaper._

**There you go. Even though reality tried to keep Beelzemon away from Ai and Mako and from fighting against the D-reaper in order to rescue the other digimon, he was able to overcome it. This one has fewer long term changes than the first two. I think the next chapter will go back to small changes creating huge outcomes, because those are interesting to see. Wish me luck!**

**P.S. I own nothing.**


	4. What if they missed the Ark? Part 1

**This chapter is going to be fun. It is also going to be a longer story as this time around. Hopefully this will also turn out well. I also get the chance to give some highly underdeveloped characters a chance to show what they can do when they have an opportunity. I also get to use one of my theories about how else the tamers and their digimon could have left the digital world. There have been some requests for specific story lines in the reviews. Some are for other seasons of digimon, but I do not believe that I could do justice to them. I remember the events of season 3 best, so that is the season I write about. If one of you can write the other season well, feel free to use the ideas that are listed in my reviews (as long as you remember to give them credit for the idea.) I would love to read them. And now, back to What If? stories.**

_Time and space are so flexible. A single change, a single action, can cause reality to spiral in a new direction. A sad ending can become happy, or a victory can become a defeat. All can be altered by the tiniest events._

_When taken from support of allies and familiar territory, one must gather their strength to face the coming challenges. New alliances are formed when others are stolen away by circumstances. When a change in reality forces one to face new challenges, adaptation is required._

_In the human world, the tamers cannot Biomerge with their partners. To help the human's overcome this difficulty, Azulongmon sent Dobermon to the human world with a gift. He sacrificed himself so that they could Biomerge. If there had been another way to give this power, Dobermon would not have to die and his partner Alice would not have to suffer the loss of her friend._

_It is called the Butterfly Effect. A small change causes drastic changes. But it can be changed back._

Rika held the barely conscious Impmon steady on the back of the running Kyubimon. They were in a hurry to get back to the rest of the group. The government conspiracy group, Hypnos and the Monster Maker had found a way to get them home again, but Rika and the two digimon needed to get to the rendezvous point in time. The girl and the fox digimon left their friends to find Impmon, because while he may have committed horrible acts as Beelzemon and even killed Leomon, neither one of them could leave him behind. And they couldn't have had better timing because he looked to be on the brink of biting the dust when they found him. So now the two partners and the most annoying person they knew, human or digimon, were racing against time to make it back.

Suddenly, they could see their ride home in the distance. How in the world did they dream up this thing? It looked like a sci-fi TV show reject. Rika then remembered who the members of the Monster Maker group were and it made sense. The bad news was the craft was taking off.

"Hurry," Rika called to the sprinting Kyubimon as she pulled out D-arc and a card. "Hyper Speed activate!"

The running digimon became a near blur. Rika held tight both to maintain her own balance and that of the weakened purple digimon in front of her. She hoped that the boost would be enough.

* * *

"They're not going to make it."

The humans and digimon stared out of the Ark at the yellow form racing towards them. The ship was steadily rising off the ground. At this rate they would be too high by the time Rika and the others reached them.

"Please stop. Rika and the rest of our friends aren't here yet," pleaded Guilmon to the Ark. He believed that the apparently insentient craft could hear and understand him, though no one else onboard agreed with him.

_And in one reality, Guilmon was right. The Ark was far enough along its path in becoming Grani. It had gained enough self-awareness to resist the instructions of his programmers and help the children and digimon that he had been created to assist. In this reality, however, he was not as far along his journey towards true sentience. He could hear the words, but they did not yet mean anything to him._

The Ark continued to rise. Takato and Ryo leaned out, hoping that if Kyubimon jumped, they could grab could hold. Unfortunately, they could see it was a futile hope.

"Why did they run off like that?" asked Ryo. "She knew we were leaving."

Takato looked at him, "Because she's Rika. She does what she wants and we just have to adapt. She and Renamon were doing what they thought was right."

He turned back to the interior of the Ark. Everyone looked upset at the loss of their members, except for a staring Jeri who hadn't responded to anything for a while. Guilmon looked particularly disheartened that his attempt to talk the Ark into stopping hadn't work.

Henry, holding onto his younger sister, voiced their next concern. "What are we going to tell everyone? What are we going to tell Rika's family?"

* * *

"No!" Rika shouted.

"No need to yell," complained Impmon tiredly, "We're right here. We know we missed our ride."

The two passengers slid off the champion digimon's back. There was no reason for Kyoubimon to continue to exhaust herself. It was too late. Impmon wasn't the steadiest, but he was on his feet now at least. Rika glanced at her partner as she de-digivolved back to her more usual form.

"What do we do now?" Renamon wondered.

"Fox-face," Impmon answered, trying to sound like his old self, "you are not as dumb as pineapple-head, so don't act like him. If plan A doesn't work, you go to plan B."

"And do you have a plan B," Rika asked in her familiar sarcastic way. Impmon had a talent of bringing out annoyance in all he meets.

"Look, Toots," he sighed sounding tired once more, "Less than an hour ago, my plan was just wait until something kills me. Ideas take time." He paused and when he spoke again, Rika realized it was one of the few times she had not heard a hint of sarcasm or scorn from him, "And thanks again for coming and saving me. And sorry you missed your lift back to the human world."

"Amazing," commented Renamon, "Impmon sounding mature. And thanking a human no less."

Impmon gave a little chuckle, "Yeah, well if Miss Ice Queen over here can thaw enough to worry about me, I guess all types of miracles are possible."

"Oh, you are so going to get it when we get back," Rika told him.

He turned serious and distant before he answered the human back this time. "I think Jeri is way ahead of you in the revenge line."

* * *

A group of scientists, government agents, and worried parents had gathered in the park. All their attention was focused on a small, grey building. They were waiting to see if the Ark would work; if the children that had vanished into another world would return. They held their breath as a form calmly pulled out of the portal. The impressive ship came to a smooth halt on the grass. Upon opening, a mixture of humans and digimon stumbled out into a confused pile, with a boy Yamaki did not know by name on the bottom and a robotic digimon apologizing in anarchaic style for landing on top of him. A few of the children actually left calmly, including a young girl in a green dress and a dead expression. While she seemed the worst off, none seemed as happy as they should at returning. Then he noticed that while the group had increased in members, it also seemed uncomplete.

"Where is Miss Nonaka?" he asked, remembering that name at least.

"She and Renamon ran off to rescue that traitor, Impmon, and they were too late getting back," a boy Yamaki knew he had never met before snapped angrily. "Because that stupid Ark didn't have any brakes, those three are stuck in the digital world."

"And she doesn't have one of your communicator doodads," continued the baseball hat sporting youth, still struggling under the metallic digimon's bulk, "so you can't just send the Ark back later, cause she won't know to wait for it."

The two boys' statement raised a wave of concern through the gathered parents. Of course, Yamaki was worried about the girl as well, but he had to try and maintain order. Fortunately, the Wong boy seemed to have the same idea.

"Look, it's not like Rika's alone and helpless," he reasoned, speaking loudly to be heard over the rising panicked voices. "Renamon is with her and as Sakuyamon, they could take on almost anything they could run into. Until we find a way to get them back, they will be fine."

The reassurance appeared to have at least some effect, until Wong's digimon spoke. "Yeah, right. They're stuck with Impmon. With Miss Sunshine's temper and his skills at being obnoxious, they'll kill each other in an hour. It might even be sooner if he digiv…"

Henry Wong grasped the small digimon, with his hand over his mouth. "Terriermon, you are not helping," he informed the struggling rabbit, "And if you don't stop talking right now, I swear I'll tie you up and leave you with Suzie to play 'Princess Pretty-Pants' forever." Terriermon stopped struggling instantly. Yamaki guessed this was a serious threat, because he had never seen this particular digimon fail to speak his mind. He also wondered what he had been about to say.

* * *

"Okay, anyone think of plan B yet?" Impmon asked, "because I am drawing a blank."

Rika groaned at the purple digimon, "No, because if we had, someone would have mentioned it."

Renamon was staring off into the distance, listening to the two in the background as she considered possibilities. She kept an ear out in case they progressed to blows. Apparently Impmon was beginning to feel better, or at least enough to try and pester someone. Suddenly, he shouted in excitement and startled Renamon out of her thoughts. Anyone surprising her was a rare occurrence, but he didn't seem to notice. He was too busy bragging.

"Yes, I am a genius. You guys are going to love this. I have a plan B."

"Want to share with us, Einstein?" asked the sarcastic tamer.

"Well, remember that the Digimon Sovereign guy kept sending the Devas to attack you? That means they have a reliable way to send digimon from the digital world and the human one. So, we need to find out how they get there, and just copy that trick ourselves."

Silence met his explanation. Believing that he understood why they may be reluctant, he continued, "I know this is the guy who wants to take out humans, but someone else around here must know how to get to the human world too. We probably don't have to get near him personally."

"No, we can probably get him or Azulongmon to help us. He convinced Zhuquiaomon that this D-reaper is a bigger priority than wiping out the humans. We're just surprised that we didn't think of asking them sooner," Rika told him.

"Wow. Gone barely a day and everything goes crazy," Impmon mumbled.

"Now, we just need to get there. Both of them are several levels away," Renamon informed them.

"Well, if anywhere is closer than this, why not take a data stream and hope we get lucky?" asked Rika, pointing towards one of the mobile hazards of the digital world. It was already headed towards them.

"Good enough for me," answered Impmon. "Anywhere has to be more interesting than here." Considering they were in a vast deserted wasteland, it's hard to disagree with that statement.

_And luck was with the trio for once. Instead of being transported randomly around the digital world, like to the forest level, they landed not far from their goal. In fact, they arrived at a location they were all familiar with. And the memories were not pleasant._

* * *

"Figures," Impmon mumbled to himself. The broken landscape was still battle scarred from the recent fight. This was the site where Gallantmon first appeared. Where Takato's fury had created Megidramon. Where he, as Beelzemon, had killed Leomon and then had his own life spared by a heart-broken Jeri. Destiny must be having a real laugh at his expense.

Of course Rika and Renamon both recognized the location, but they enough tact not to bring it up. Instead, they simply had Renamon digivolve once more to Kyubimon. Rika gently tapped him on the shoulder.

"Come on, we aren't far now. We'll be back in the human world in no time. Then you can get back to terrorizing all park goers."

They rode the fox digimon in silence for the longest time. Naturally, that could not remain the case for long. It was only a matter of who spoke first. And considering who was in the group, it was really no surprise.

"Do you think," began Impmon slowly and thoughtfully, "she'll ever be able to forgive me?"

"Who?" Rika asked.

"Jeri."

Kyubimon answered, "I don't know, but she always seemed like a forgiving person. It'll just take time."

"I hope so."

* * *

At the trio's destination, two powerful digimon conversed. One, a huge bird who hated all humans with a passion, was in a deep argument with a blue dragon-like digimon.

"Azulongmon, surely you can't be serious?" asked the shocked Zhuquiaomon, "We just got rid of them and now you are saying we have to help them again?"

"You must realize that part of the reason that the humans and their digimon are so effective and unstoppable is because of their bond. In the digital world, that bond was strong enough to allow them to combine and reach their mega levels."

"An unnatural bond, in my opinion."

"However," Azulongmon continued as if he had not heard the other's comment, "in the human world, they cannot combine. Not unless they receive help."

"So you are sending them that power? How?"

"A digimon has volunteered to help. His human partner, a girl called Alice McCoy, will help him to complete his mission."

"Another unnatural alliance," Zhuquiaomon sneered, "And does your sacrifice know the cost of what you ask?"

"He does."

"Fine," he spat at the giant blue digimon, "Do as you wish. I only hope your confidence in these humans is well-founded or we will all fall to the D-reaper."

* * *

Not long after Azulongmon's exit, another intrusion broke his solitude. This one was worse than the last.

"Hey, Bird-Brained Digimon Sovereign," called Impmon, "we were wondering if you could do us a favor."

"A delightful lack of respect," the Sovereign commented dryly. He stared at his new audience, "I thought you humans and your digimon left already."

"Well, most of us did," Rika explained, "and if you could just get us back to the human world, then we can get out of your hair… or feathers or whatever."

"Interesting," he sneered, "A human, her digimon traitorous pet, and a traitorous hypocrite are seeking my help."

"Hypocrite?" Renamon whispered in confusion.

"Oh yes," he seemed to be enjoying himself, while Impmon grew angrier with each word. "I know you. Chatsuramon recruited you for me, promising the power to digivolve in exchange for you services. Only you were too weak to finish, weren't you?"

"Shut up!" Impmon screamed, but the Sovereign continued.

"I should have known you would be ultimately useless. For all your talk about how sad and pathetic it was to be partnered with humans, that you hated humans, and how they sickened you with their friendship with humans, you are just as bad."

"Leave them out of this," Impmon obviously wanted to attack the powerful digimon, but Rika grabbed his arm. He barely noticed her grip while he kept shouting, "Come here, you oversized turkey!" Renamon grabbed the other arm. "I'll Badda Boom you across the digital world and back it you don't shut up right now!"

"What were their names again?" Zhuquiaomon apparently was not finished torturing the poor rookie, "Ai and Mako? How long did it take you to leave them? Too long apparently. They ruined a perfect warrior, and made you soft. Otherwise, you wouldn't be so concerned with destroying a 'digi-slave,' as you phrase it. So what now? Do you go crawling back to beg those two children for forgiveness? To ask that weak human girl to forgive you for attacking her traitor digimon? You are pathetic."

"Stop it!" commanded Rika in her most authoritative voice. It actually had the effect of startling the phoenix-looking digimon into silence. "Quit your stupid games! We don't have time for this! You want us gone just as much as we want to go. Now, either help us or we'll move on to the next giant over-powered digimon."

After a moment, the Digimon Sovereign sighed, "I can't help you. I sent too many across recently. Perhaps that human loving Azulongmon can. I know he is planning something to help you tamers." He gave another sigh, this time of resignation. "I can assist you in reaching him quickly. The sooner you get to him, the sooner you leave."

The xenophobic Sovereign kneeled down, indicating the trio should climb up. Making sure that Impmon would not do anything foolish, they proceeded to do so. Zhuquiaomon rose quickly off the ground. Once their altitude stabilized, the two partners turned their attention to the third passenger. His expression was impossible to read; he could be furious, depressed, or ashamed, but it was likely some combination.

"Do you want to talk, Impmon," Renamon asked carefully.

"No," his answer was emotionless and quiet.

"Alright, _will_ you talk about it," asked Rika in a more firm manner, "Because something just happened and we would prefer to hear it from you rather than Big Bird."

"You are aware I can hear," Zhuquiaomon interrupted.

"Yeah, so?" Rika responded sharply, "You already hate us and you haven't exactly been earning many brownie points with us so far."

"Ai and Mako," Impmon whispered softly, staring off into the distance. "It's been so long since I've seen them. It seems like they always fought and I would end up in the middle." He didn't seem to even notice that he had an audience anymore. He was lost in his memories. "Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore. I left them. I didn't need them, I didn't need any humans, and I didn't need anyone."

He finally looked at the stunned partners, apparently reminding himself he wasn't alone, "But I did, didn't I? I still… I still miss them and Chatsuramon used that against me. He used them to turn me into their pawn in their stupid games."

Rika, never good at emotions and such, looked at Renamon for help. The yellow fox was a better people person than her. Which did not mean much, because the girl was not social at all before Takato, Henry, and the others had forced her out of her shell.

"Impmon," Renamon began kindly, "You can't keep beating yourself up for the past. You can't change what has occurred already. Only the future can be changed. Instead of being haunted by your mistakes, try fixing them and not repeating them."

The rest of the flight passed in silence.

* * *

Before Azulongmon, two figures stood. A digimon that looked like a big, black dog waited next to a young blond human girl wearing a dress as black as her companion. Knowing of no other way to send the power to the human world, he was going to use a living vessel to do it. Dobermon had agreed to the mission in the hope that he would be doing his part to save both worlds from the D-reaper. Alice, who was supposed to guide and help her partner with his task, was less happy with their role. She didn't want to watch her friend die just to help some perfect strangers.

"I cannot force you to accept this burden," the dragon digimon informed them, "But I would not ask if I was not important."

"We understand," answered Dobermon solemnly.

"Very well," he told the gathered pair, but was interrupted by the sounds of large wings flapping. Zhuzuiaomon was approaching, carrying on his back two digimon and, surprisingly, a human. As he landed, Azulongmon remarked, "Weren't two of you fighting Zhuquiaomon not long ago?"

"Yes, and now they're your problem," the Sovereign grumbled as he dropped off the riders and left as quickly as he could.

"So, you're one of those tamers," commented Alice dryly, drawing the trio's attention to the only other human currently in the digital world. "You're one of the tamers who Biomerge."

"Yes, that's right. Into Sakuyamon," replied Rika cautiously, recognizing the steel in the blond girl's voice as being similar to her own before she verbally attacked someone.

She snapped venomously at the collective group, "Well, I hope you're happy. Because you can't do it in the real world, Dobermon is about to be used as a sacrificial lamb to give you the power."

"Okay, back up Gothic Barbie," Rika held up her hand, "First, I didn't know we can't Biomerge in the human world because the three of us are stranded. Second, no one is getting killed off here."

"But you will need the power to reach the mega level in the human world and I cannot send it without a vessel of some type. If I could do otherwise, I would," explained the sky-blue digimon.

"Can you use a nonliving vessel?" Renamon asked reasonably.

"Only if there was a way for it to interact with the D-arc. There are few things beyond digimon and the Catalyst, Calumon, that can do so."

"What about the cards?"asked Impmon curiously. "I mean, the humans are always sliding them into their D-arcs. Would those work?"

Azulongmon was silent as he considered this possibility. "Perhaps that could work. If you have these cards with you, we might try."

Rika dug through her cards and pulled out a few of her most useless cards she never used. While she searched, Impmon grinned slightly at the fact another of his ideas was working. She held out her handful of cards towards the powerful digimon. His eyes began to glow a bright blue light and a similar glow appeared in her hand. When both lights vanished, she was left with four morphed cards. In appearance, they now looked like the blue cards they used to normally digivolve, except they were done in shades of silver. When the light struck the middle symbol, however, a different color appeared. One was blue, like her D-arc, when held at the right angle. Each card was likely specific for each person.

"Once you activate the card, you will be able to Bioemerge in the human world," Azulongmon informed them, "You must wait until you return, though."

"About that," began Rika, "Can you help us out?"

"We're going too," Alice informed her, "We can help and not just by playing sacrifice."

"I can help you return you to your world, but beware. The D-reaper is already waiting," the blue digimon warned them.

A thick cloud of fog formed in front of the quintet. Rika, Renamon, and Impmon recognized it as the fog that appeared at Bioemerges. Only this one was in the digital world.

"You will emerge back in the human world, just as digimon that have crossed over would," explained Azulongmon. "You will find it is a much easier trip than falling through portals like your arrival here."

"So, we are going to Bioemerge in a digital field in order to get back," Renamon assuring that she understood. He nodded that this was correct.

The two human girls pulled out their respective glasses and the tamers, and their partners, approached the fog. Only after they entered did Renamon notice that Impmon was not right behind them. He was still near Azulongmon, outside the digital field.

**Surprise! Because of the length of this particular What If?, I am dividing it up. I had always wondered if the tamers could have just Bioemerge back into the real world, like a digimon would. I saw no reason they couldn't and obviously the Digimon Sovereign could send digimon across, like he did with the Devas. Thus, that is how Rika and the others would get back if they couldn't take the Ark. I also developed a new way to allow Biomerging in the human world without killing off Dobermon. Because he and Alice did not get a large part in the show, I decided to give them a chance to develop a personality. It will show up more in part two, but she and Rika are not going to get along at all. Let me know what you think and if any of you write a What If? for the other digimon seasons, let me know so I can read it.**

**P.S. I own nothing.**


	5. What if they missed the Ark? Part 2

**Okay, after that last cliffhanger, I am ready to let you know how this What If? turns out. Lacking in much information about Alice and Dobermon, including personalities, background, attacks, and digivolution, because of their short time on the show, I had to improvise. If you know any of the real information concerning them, let me know and I'll be happy to correct it. But, I will keep her interactions with Rika because they were way too much fun. I just can't imagine them getting along. Also, I may take a break from these stories for a while. I might try some of my other stories or even take a break entirely. But either way, I don't think I could stay away from these stories forever. So thanks for your imput and let's get back to the story. **

Though the main Hypnos building had been evacuated because of the D-reaper, some of the equipment could still be monitored remotely, if it was still operational at all. At this moment, a fairly familiar alarm was going off, but the actual readings were surprising.

"Sir," began Riley, "There's… a Bioemergence occurring."

"A wild one?" asked Yamaki, his mind still on the Nonaka girl problem, the invading D-reaper, and other various concerns.

"I don't know," she answered hesitantly, "There are multiple signatures, but a couple are… odd."

"Could it be related to the D-reaper," he suggested, gaining interest in the growing mystery and possible new threat.

"I don't think so, Sir. It almost looks… human."

* * *

The ground changed beneath their feet, becoming black and smooth. As the fog expanded, it became clear they were standing in the middle of a road. Four pairs of eyes examined their surroundings more closely to try and determine their exact location. Through the slowly dispersing mist, they could make out store fronts and other buildings. Obviously they had made it back to the human world.

Suddenly, Impmon stumbled out of the thicker fog. He looked, tired, more tired than he had been a few moments before. Rika, being the closest, steadied him quickly.

Renamon asked him, "What took you so long? Why weren't you right behind us?"

All he would say was, "I had to talk to Azulongmon. I was correcting a mistake."

"Well, are we going to stand around all day?" Alice inquired, "I thought we were in a hurry to get going." She tried to walk out of the digital field but found she couldn't. Dobermon didn't seem as surprised.

"Blondie, we can't go yet," a sarcastic Rika informed her as she made sure Impmon had his balance now. "We just Bioemerged, like all the digimon we have fought before. We can't completely enter the human world until the digital field weakens enough. Why else would they have hung around for us to come fight all those times? They were stuck."

"Sorry," replied Alice in a sharp tone, "I don't have as much experience with fighting, Little Miss Tom-boy. Maybe that's got something to do with my lacking your superior fog knowledge."

Dobermon and Renamon exchanged knowing looks. Even if Dobermon had not been with his partner as long as Renamon had been hers, they both realized that the two girls would definitely not hit it off anytime soon. Impmon seemed to be enjoying the fight somewhat.

"Well, if you wore something other than a dress, maybe you could actually get somewhere fast enough to help!"

"And if you wore something other than jeans and a ratty T-shirt, maybe you could get a boy and wouldn't be so lonely!"

"You just met me. How do you know I don't have a boyfriend?"

"Please, what boy would want to date a big-mouth psychopath like you?"

"Badda Boom!" shouted the purple digimon as he tossed a fireball between the two combatants. It was smaller than usual, but it served its purpose. While he enjoyed watching humans freaking out in any form, it was starting to remind him too much of Ai and Mako. Once he had their attention, he continued his distraction technique in the most obnoxious way he knew, "Ladies, there is no reason to compete for me. I know I am impressive."

Three voices laughed at the pure insanity of his statement; Dobermon simply stared at Impmon. The purple digimon grinned mischievously. He was just glad that they stopped before they started ripping off limbs.

"Yeah, well if you are done mocking my awesomeness and killing each other, I think it's weak enough to get out now," he proclaimed. "I just thought that maybe we might try attacking the actual enemy, because I think I can hear fighting already."

Renamon nodded in agreement. She could also hear the sounds of battle in the distance. "Rika, shall we?"

The girl pulled out her D-arc and the silver card. It shimmered for a moment in her hand before she swiped it.

"Renamon Biomerged digivolved to… Sakuyamon!"

* * *

The battle was not going well. Takato and Henry were watching helplessly as Wargrowlmon and Rapidmon tried to combat the D-reaper. No matter what attack the ultimate level digimon threw at it, the pumpkin-headed specter seemed unaffected. Not only could they not reach the mega level, they didn't even have Taomon's help. The D-reaper was proving too strong. Eventually, the monstrous pink blob trapped the two digimon.

Takato, frustrated and fearing for his friend, screamed to the sky, "We need help!"

And soaring overhead, like a miracle answering their prayers, was Sakuyamon. "Alright boys, the cavalry has arrived."

Rushing by the stunned boys was a pair of black forms. "Oh no, you won't get all the credit. Dobermon and I came to help, and that's what we're going to do."

"How in the… Who was…" Takato tried to ask.

"Just as intelligent as usual, I see," a tired voice behind him commented. Their heads snapped around, revealing a less than energetic Impmon waiting. "I guess some things never change, right Goggle-head?" Noticing the two humans' expressions, he continued, "Look, I've had a rough day or so. Can you kill me later? I'd be more worried about the two girls if I were you. The new one, Alice, has a bigger death wish than me, with how she's been baiting Rika."

Henry, after reassuring himself that the worn out digimon was not likely to continue his earlier 'wipe out the tamers' agenda, asked one of the more obvious questions. "How did Rika and Renamon Biomerge in the real world?"

"Oh yeah," he handed the boys a pair of cards that he had been handed earlier, "Courtesy of big, blue Azulongmon. And Rika said give her some back up. Good luck!" With that he sat down, apparently intending only to rest a moment but he dozed off in seconds. Obviously, he had not been kidding about his day.

"Alright, time for us to join the fight," announced Takato.

"Right," Henry agreed.

"Guilmon Biomerge digivolve to … Gallantmon!"

"Terriermon Biomerge digivolve to… Megagargomon!"

Where before two digimon had been struggling to hold their own against the wraith-formed D-reaper, three mega levels now faced the creature on much more even terms. Dobermon, unable to fly across the pink mass, settled for depending on a longer range attack.

"Guard Dog Howl!" he shouted before he released a deafening cry. While his attack was far from damaging, it did distract the scythe-swinging specter.

"Lightning Joust!" called Gallantmon, his weapon glowing.

"Mega Barrage!" Megagargomon announced as his guns blazed.

"Amethyst Wind!" the final mega cried, directing her power along with the others' attacks.

Though they were not specifically aiming for it, one of their attacks clipped the connection between the targeted pumpkin-sporting creature and the main D-reaper mass. Without the continued flow of power, the digimon were able to dissolve the monster back into pink goo with their next assault.

Landing close to where Alice and Dobermon had launched their short attack, the three megas turned back into three digimon and three humans. The old friends looked at the newcomers with a certain amount off reservation. Or rather, Takato, Henry, and Terriermon looked uneasy with Alice and Dobermon. Rika glared at the blond girl with unconcealed disgust. Guilmon seemed to be considering whether or not he should ask them to play.

"You are the other tamers, I assume," Dobermon deduced, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "Azulongmon speaks highly of you."

"I do not see why," Alice muttered.

Dobermon sighed, "Please excuse my partner. Alice is not usually this hostile. She is simply protective of me."

"So, why is she mad at us?" Takato asked. "We're not the enemy. The D-reaper is."

"Dobermon was originally going to bring the power to Biomerge, instead of with the cards. The fact that it would have killed him is what made Dress-up Doll over there hate us," explained Rika. "Or she might always have that charming personality."

"Rika complaining about someone being grouchy," laughed Terriermon.

"Terriermon," warned Henry.

"How did it go from Dobermon to cards then," inquired Takato, "I mean, I'm glad that it did, but I don't get it."

"Surprisingly, it was… Wait, where's Impmon," Rika asked, noticing his absence from the group. She glanced at Renamon, who faded out in response to her partners silent request. The fox digimon would go find him.

"Last we saw, he was asleep a few streets back," Henry reported, "Why so concerned? Other than the D-reaper, there is no one around that would bother him."

"Besides, he tried to kill us all," complained Terriermon, "and he partially succeeded. Remember Leomon? I say let the pink jell-o eat him and good riddance."

Henry glared at the rabbit digimon and informed him, "I will tie you up and leave you with Suzie, 'Princess Pretty-Pants.' You know I will."

"'Princess Pretty-Pants'?" asked a confused Alice.

* * *

Meanwhile, Renamon was retracing her earlier path across the city. When she reached Impmon's last known location, she realized he had apparently awoken enough to run off again. However, the yellow fox had always been able to find him when she chose and this time was no different. In another deserted area of the city, she saw him through a window. She recognized the house, and even the room he was in, as being one she had seen him spy on before. All that was missing was the two arguing twins that once fought over a teddy bear that she had seen last time. Impmon seemed disappointed at their absence as well. Renamon watched him wander the residence until he finally climbed out the window.

"I'm sorry that they aren't here," she told him.

The purple digimon jumped at the sound of her voice, "Jeez, are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"No. Rika and I were just concerned. Are you alright?"

"Sure, Toots," he answered and he did sound and looked better than earlier, "I just needed a quick nap. And now, if you excuse me, I have a pair of kids to track down."

"So you know where they are?"

"Not exactly, but they left a note," he held it up as evidence. "I figure that I get someone to read it and then I'll know how to find them. And then I'll…" he faded off as he realized he didn't know if he could face them or if they would want him back. What Chatsuramon had said and shown him haunted Impmon's thoughts.

"The sun is going down," Renamon observed, "Why don't you come back with us? We'll help you find them in the morning. It will be fine."

He slowly nodded, "Okay. I've waited this long. One more night won't hurt."

* * *

"Please tell me you're joking. Him? Partners?"

Terriermon's outburst summed up most of the group's feelings. They had accepted Impmon's hatred of humans for so long that the idea of him being friend's with them was just too strange. Alice, not as familiar with his past behavior, was more focused on another key detail.

"Partners, as in plural? Isn't that a little unusual?"

The setting sun was beginning to fade, but at least some of the street lights were still working. The group of tamers and digimon were still in the empty street, if farther from the D-reaper than when Renamon left. Rika was trying to explain why they should not turn Impmon into so much data.

"Yes, but seems they are. Apparently the two of them argued and fought a lot. He ran away from them."

"Explains his attitude towards humans, if his first and most familiar encounter was of them fighting," reasoned Henry logically.

"Okay then," interjected Takato, "But why did he attack as Beelzemon? That's quite a step from freaking out people in the park."

"As far as I can gather," answered Rika, "Chatsuramon promised him the power to digivolve for his help. And he used his memories and feelings for his partners to convince him. But you should have seen him when we found him." Her voice had a hint of concern that would have once sounded foreign coming from her and still was a rare occurrence. "The guilt is really getting to him. He didn't seem to care if he died or not anymore when we found him. And Zhuquiaomon definitely tried to bring up as many hurtful memories he could."

"Everyone deserves a second chance," chimed Guilmon, having one of his uncommon insightful thoughts. "When I break something or mess up, I say I'm sorry. And then Takatomon says it's okay and gives me bread."

"I think I have to say a lot more than just a simple 'I'm sorry'" Impmon commented as he and Renamon rejoined the group. No one had heard their approach, but both were fairly light-footed. "But that is likely a good place to start. I don't think anyone can truly forgive me, least of all Jeri. I was stupid and gullible. I can't undo everything I did." He stopped and looked at the gathered individuals. Most of them he had insulted and tormented as best he could for such a long time. Now he was practically begging them for forgiveness. He wasn't used to this, but living with himself otherwise was not an option. "But I'm going to try and fix my mistakes."

Takato, who once had so much fury directed at this digimon that he turned his best friend into a monster to combat him, carefully took the ashamed rookie's red gloved hand, "Guilmon's right. Everyone deserves a second chance."

* * *

"I don't know if I can do this."

"Come on, Impmon," Rika urged. "You can't tell me you're afraid."

"I'm not afraid of anything," Impmon shouted, demonstrated some of his old hot-temperedness.

Rika pointed at the building, "Well, this is where the letter says they are. Are you going to see them or not?"

He was currently perched on the roof, considering what to do. Rika and Renamon had agreed to help him find the twins while the rest of the group made further plans. Rika had suggested she could get the children to come out by claiming she went to school with them, until Impmon and Renamon informed her of exactly how young they were. No wonder they fought all the time. Now, they were working on a plan B of getting Impmon reunited with Ai and Mako. This was working as well as last time they tried to think of a plan B.

"I still say the truth is the best policy," Renamon commented, "After all, your grandmother handled it well."

"Yeah, let's tell some strangers that their children, who don't even go to school yet, that their best friend is a fire-throwing imp that comes from a world with a TV show based on it? And from that same world came that monstrous blob that even now is redecorating downtown and their children now qualify as being part of a limited group who are fighting it?" Rika's sarcasm was as sharp as ever.

"Hey, don't make it sound like I plan to drag them near the D-reaper," protested said imp, "But, even so, it still does not sound promising when you put it that way."

A puppy started barking in the house. Before any of them could react, a sliding door opened. In addition to the canine, two small children stood there. Obviously brother and sister, the brown-haired duo could see and be seen by Rika and Renamon, but Impmon on the roof above them was out of view. For a moment, four pairs of eyes simply stared, or five if you counted the dog. Finally, the girl Ai took charge.

"That's a digimon." Impmon stiffened to hear his friend's voice and leaned over, trying to see them.

Rika, a little flustered and her skills with children negligible, awkwardly acknowledged, "Yes, she is. Her name is Renamon and I'm Rika."

"I'm Mako," the boy informed her, "and Ai's my sister. Is she really your digimon?"

"She's my friend and partner."

The young pair considered this carefully and then decided to share gravely gained knowledge. They felt it was important for the older girl to know.

"Don't fight," Ai told her solemnly, "If you do…"

Mako continued, seamlessly finishing his sister's sentence, "she'll go away. You'll hurt her feelings and your digimon will leave."

The twins, as they gave this advice, looked so serious and concerned, Rika didn't know what to say. She wanted to tell them everything was alright, that their friend had come back and missed them, that it wasn't their fault because children their age fight, and no matter what she and Renamon would be together just as they and Impmon would for now on.

She didn't get a chance because, in his attempt to see his friends, Impmon had lost his balance. With a shout of surprise, he landed right behind Ai and Mako. The two turned and when they say him, their expressions instantly brightened.

"Impmon?"

* * *

_And like that, friends were reunited. Promises were exchanged and stories were told. Impmon tried to avoid the most painful topics and the twins avoided arguing. But time kept flowing and events kept occurring. Jeri was a captive of the D-reaper and no one would leave her there if they could help it. When Impmon planned to leave, because he had more reasons than many that he had to save her, he met unexpected resistance._

"No, you can't go again," cried Mako.

Ai added, "If we did something wrong, we're sorry. Please don't leave."

It twisted his heart that they feared losing him so much. What he couldn't tell them was he might not just be leaving for a while but might never be able to return. Face it, the D-reaper could easily kill him, but there was no reason to frighten them anymore.

"It's not your fault," he reassured them, "but there is a girl trapped in the giant jell-o mold out there. She needs help."

"Okay, you're going to rescue her form the bad guys," Ai nodded understandingly, "We know you can win."

_And while it occurred in another time and place in one reality, in this one both of the humans and their digimon had come far enough and were emotionally close enough for certain events to occur. The shift in reality had allowed this to happen sooner than it might have otherwise._

A glowing purple light announced its arrival. The trio stared at the device that had materialized in the room. Impmon was rather shocked, but knew that he shouldn't be. After all, Ai and Mako were his partners.

It was only natural they would get a D-arc.

"Oh, it's pretty," commented Ai.

"And pretty important," he informed his two tamers, "I'm not an expert, but watching the others mess with those things has taught me a little. I'll tell you what I know before I go. But I want you to promise me two things. First, promise not to go near the D-reaper."

"Only if you take this," stated Mako, handing a toy gun to the purple digimon. "It's my favorite. So you can shoot the bad guys."

Impmon didn't think the piece of plastic would be at all helpful, but Mako seemed to believe he was helping to protect him, so he told Mako, "They won't know what hit them. Now the second one is complicated, but you only have to take care of it if I'm not around. You know, if I'm busy," he hurried to reassure.

"We'll help you," Ai promised. "You're best friend. We love you, Impmon." She gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

* * *

_The battle against the D-reaper waged on. Impmon, in the form of Beelzemon Blast mode, launched his attack upon the central kernel containing Jeri after multiple setbacks. Four mega digimon: Gallantmon, Megagargomon, Sakuyamon, and Justimon, were assaulting the D-reaper near the stubborn flying biker-looking digimon. The others, including Alice and Dobermon, were pressing their luck scattered around the perimeter of the pink blob. At home, concerned with how long their partner had been gone, were Ai and Mako. Their mother, concerned by their odd behavior of late, would soon have new reasons to worry._

A loud beeping sound rose from the odd device, attracting the twin's attention. Impmon had said that sound meant a digimon was Bioemerging somewhere. Because of the D-reaper, not many would be showing up. So if the alarm went off, it was probably who Ai and Mako were supposed to find.

"Mako, come on," Ai urged.

"But its past curfew and we can't leave the house alone anyway," he pointed out.

"We promised Impmon," she argued, "and he said it was important."

Displaying a remarkable amount of stealth and cunning for their age, the two twins staged an argument. Their mother, surprised by this fight after the period of peaceful co-existence, sent the dueling duo to their room. "I don't want to hear a peep out of you until morning."

That wouldn't be a problem because they were out of the house five minutes later. Following the signal off the D-arc, they found a huge, puffy cloud. Ai, remembering Impmon's advice, had brought a pair of their swimming goggles out of their toy box. They pulled on the eye protection and carefully entered the digital field. Impmon said if the digimon didn't look like he describe, the two tamers were to run away as fast as possible.

A form stood in the middle of the fog. He was taller than Impmon by a quite a bit and was even taller than their parents. As they looked closer, Ai and Mako could see he looked exactly as the purple digimon had said he would. As the strange digimon peered at the humans, Ai stepped forward.

"Impmon said you would talk to a big, blue digimon and it would explain everything. Did it?"

The tall digimon nodded.

"Everyone is fighting the blob bad guys. Including Impmon," Mako explained.

Ai continued, "He's trying to save a girl from the monster, but we haven't seen him in a while. We promised to stay away, but if you go, can you take us with you?"

The digimon spoke in a gentle voice, "It would not be safe for you. And I must go there."

"But Impmon's our friend. We have to help," exclaimed Mako.

"Can't you understand that?" Ai asked. "We want to protect him from the bad guys."

The digimon stared in silence at the brave young pair, until he gave a nod of agreement to their request.

* * *

Far away and high above the partially destroyed city, a dark figure continued his relentless strikes against the smooth sphere's surface. Beelzemon's stubborn and futile punches were having absolutely no effect on Jeri's prison, but it was really killing his knuckles. He couldn't stop. Everything was his fault. She didn't have a partner to help her, because of him. He had to fix everything; he couldn't give up. He would save Jeri, even if it was the last thing he did. Beelzemon kept pounding, unrelenting and unstoppable.

* * *

Ai and Mako were perched upon the digimon's shoulders as he ran across town. Their weight didn't even seem to slow his pace. The streets this close to the D-reaper were deserted. Only when they were dangerously near the pink goo did the three spot any sign of life.

A girl wearing all black that none of them recognizing was standing near a three-headed dog. As the approached, the obviously canine digimon leapt towards one of the various creatures connected to the D-reaper. As he attacked he shouted "Underworld Vengeance!" All three sets of teeth tore at the creature, one set at the cord while the other two heads took out the monster itself. With it gone, a short lull in the action was reached. The girl looked at the new arrivals.

"Excuse me, Miss," began Mako, "But we're looking for Impmon. Do you know where he is?"

The girl studied the two humans and the digimon. She didn't know why, but she could tell he didn't belong to the twins. Then she remembered that Impmon had two partners. It still did not explain the presence of the other digimon.

"Have you checked the D-arc?" she asked, "It can locate him and even show you what he sees. I'm Alice by the way, and that's Cerberusmon. I know your two's names and I recognize your friend there from the card game."

"How do you see with it?" Ai inquired. "Impmon didn't know and couldn't tell us."

"Here, I'll show you," she answered, taking the purple D-arc in her hands. "You're lucky that stuck-up girl, Rika didn't meet you. She would have laughed at you not knowing how to work this thing."

"She seemed nice to us," defended Mako, "and she helped Impmon find us."

Alice pressed a few buttons while commenting, "Trust me. She is not worth the effort. She thinks she is so perfect. Okay, got it working. Everything you see is what he sees." She handed the device back to Ai, who held it where her brother and the digimon they were riding could see.

* * *

Pounding the sphere, unrelenting and unstopping. Ignore the pain and the exhaustion. Beelzemon couldn't stop. He had to do everything, anything, to undo all the suffering he had caused. He already tried one method, but until that hadn't panned out yet, and Jeri was still in danger. All he could see was his fists alternating as they struck the surface. He needed more power to succeed, but he didn't know where to look for help.

* * *

"He's trying to smash into that giant ball," announced Mako.

Ai also noted, "But it's not working. He isn't strong enough."

Alice, watching the young tamers worry about their partner, remembered when she had feared for her own friend's safety. Though lacking the variety and size of Miss Perfect's collection, she did have a few cards.

"Here, use this," she told the children. "When you are ready, slide it through the D-arc. It will give him strength. Hope it's enough." She turned away, spotting more targets in the distance. "If you really want to help him you will need to find a way to get closer. The only way is to fly though." She ran off with Cerberusmon, trying to remember why the strange digimon's identity was so familiar and important. She could have sworn she had heard someone mention him.

Ai and Mako took the card and D-arc in hand and stared for a moment. Could they do it? Could they be real tamers and help their friend?

Ai held the D-arc while Mako slid the card, both shouting in unison, "Power activate!" Neither noticed an approaching red, flying shape.

* * *

Tired and hopeless, Beelzemon still struggled against the impenetrable prison. There was no way he could succeed; he knew it. No one would blame him for stopping when there was no chance. No one, but himself.

Then he felt it. A surge of strength, power, and new-found confidence rushed through his tired limbs. For a moment he didn't know what had occurred, but it dawned on him. After all that time claiming he needed no humans to be strong, Ai and Mako had succeeded in making him so. This is why they others had always depended on their human friends. Not only the real power they could give, but the strength in knowing they believed in him. He didn't know how or why they gave him it now, but they had and he would use it.

Focusing all his new strength into one new blow, he swung his aching fist at the stupid overgrown marble. And impossibly, it cracked. A hole appeared in the perfect sphere, revealing Calumon and Jeri. Tired, but happy that he had almost succeeded, he reached his arm in the hole. Jeri pulled back. Beelzemon felt surprised, but not as surprised as when the gaping hole started to close.

"Jeri, take my hand," he shouted, holding open the constricting opening. "Please, let me save you."

She stared at him, and finally whispered softly, "You're not Leomon."

He felt cold and couldn't speak for a moment. In this moment, the opening snapped shut, trapping Jeri and Calumon once more inside. Beelzemon started attacking the sphere again, but with even less hope than before. She wouldn't let him rescue; she couldn't forgive him.

"Please, just let me save you Jeri," he screamed. Suddenly he heard the others, like Gallantmon, yelling at him. He only had a second to wonder before his back exploded with pain. The small flying objects that had chased Gallantmon around had struck him from behind. His whole world shrunk to the agony that filled him as completely as the earlier strength had. He couldn't fly any longer. He couldn't fight any more. All he could do was fall and die.

"Jeri," he called, falling and dissolving into data.

* * *

Jeri was curled up in her little bubble. For a moment, she had believed Leomon had returned to save her. She had hoped that he was back. But no, only the monster Beelzemon was there. He took away Leomon, but had he been trying to save her now? She slowly pulled out her D-arc, all she had left of her friend. She knew that its screen would hold nothing but static, empty from the loss of her partner. She could feel a tear on her cheek as she turned the device around.

She stopped suddenly. Everything, Beelzemon, the D-reaper, and her own entrapment, fell away. Nothing else mattered.

The screen was active.

* * *

"No! Beelzemon!" cried the various mega digimon, watching him fall away and dissolve away. None of them could reach him before he hit the D-reaper and it already looked too late.

A flash of red and yellow dove towards the battered digimon. Pulling up once more, the red shape revealed itself to be Grani. Even more surprising was its passenger. Sakuyamon could identify Ai and Mako, though the rest could have guessed their identity by their concerned looks. Impmon, battered, bruised, and unconscious, but still alive was also onboard. The final rider was Leomon, holding the smaller digimon while the children grasped his legs for balance. The dead digimon was carefully perched on Grani as if there was nowhere else he could possibly be.

"Leomon? How?"

Gallantmon, Megagargomon, and Sakuyamon were shouting their surprise. Justimon was silent, but he was not as talkative. He was just as stunned at the reappearance of the lion digimon.

"Impmon, are you okay?" cried Ai and Mako, tears rolling down her voice.

"He'll be alright, small ones," Leomon reassured the pair, "We just need to get him out of here." He looked at the sphere that Impmon had nearly died trying to gain access to. "Don't worry Jeri, I'll be back." With that, Grani flew out of the dangerous area.

Gallantmon, seeing that they needed to re-gather their strength, called to the others, "We need to fall back." He looked at where his friend Jeri was held and echoed Leomon's words. "Don't worry, we'll be back."

* * *

"Okay, how in the world did you swoop to the rescue like that," asked a confused Takato. "You were dead, your data absorbed by Beelzemon, no matter how sorry he is, and now you're here."

"Before he returned to the human world, he spoke with Azulongmon about his problem," explained Leomon, standing a short distance from where a resting Impmon laid. Ai and Mako hovered nearby, gravely concerned about their friend and knowing of no way to help. "He felt guilty about his earlier actions and asked Azulongmon for his help. He was able to extract my data from Impmon and restored me to digi-egg form. When I finally regained my earlier appearance, Azulongmon informed me of all that had transpired. He then helped me to return to the human world, where Ai and Mako awaited."

"How did they know you were coming," inquired Henry.

Ai answered, "Impmon said a tall lion would be showing up and that he would be looking for the trapped girl. He asked, if he wasn't there, for us to go find him." She looked at her fallen partner, her eyes filled with worry. "He said he was trying to fix some mistakes and us finding Leomon would help to do that."

"Man," whispered Rika, "When he feels guilty about something, he doesn't mess around on repairing the damage. Not only does he find a way to get Leomon back, he almost gets killed trying to save Jeri."

"His brave and determined effort in trying to protect Jeri in my absence as well as his attempt to undo his past crimes leaves me little choice but to forgive him," Leomon declared, "and I could do no less, so I assisted his two young tamers in their desire to help their friend. I am glad we did arrive in time."

"Your timing was excellent," Renamon acknowledged, "though if you had arrived sooner, Jeri might be safe already. She was afraid of Beelzemon and wanted you. She went into a depression after your last battle. And she fell to the D-reaper."

Leomon looked down, "I know, and that seems to be a great source of Impmon's guilt. However, I am now back and I will do my duty to Jeri. We will rescue her."

"Why?" asked Mako suddenly, "Why is Impmon guilty? What crime are you talking about?"

The older children and the digimon looked at one another. They didn't want to lie to the young kids, but neither did they wish to tell of Impmon's past. Not only would it be hurtful to learn of some of his acts, they may even come to fear him. No one wanted to do that.

Renamon finally looked at both children squarely, "He made a mistake. He was lied to and tricked by a creature named Chatsuramon. He did things that he regrets and would only hurt him to remember. But he is still good and still cares about you. He made a mistake and he needs to be forgiven and to forgive himself."

Ai and Mako nodded solemnly at the fox digimon, accepting her words. They were true, but were also comforting.

* * *

And trapped in a bubble, held prisoner by the D-reaper, a girl watched the world through her revived D-arc. She listened and watched what Leomon heard and saw. She felt so happy, knowing her friend was back. She listened as he told how he returned and she began to feel ashamed. Impmon not only tried to give back what he took from her, he tried to save her himself. And she rejected him. When Leomon looked at the unconscious form of the purple digimon, she had to look away. It was too painful to know he was hurt trying to save her and she wouldn't even let him.

She sat watching the world, showing Calumon whenever he asked, and waited. Too many people cared about her to leave her forever. When Leomon died, she had forgotten that there were others who liked her and wanted her to be happy. She remembered now and she would never forget again. She would never give it up; she would never give up on life and feelings.

_When the battle recommenced, another combatant joined the fight. Leomon kept attacking with the others. A card, given by the Monster Makers and Hypnos, gave an advantage to destroy a monster. A girl, who had lost hope once, now remained brave as those who cared fought to rescue her once more. Twins that once fought against one another now watched in peace for the awakening of their ally. _

_When the heroes had won and the enemy vanquished, the closest of bonds was torn by circumstances. The card that gave them victory was a two edged sword that would destroy the digimon if they did not return to their world. The battle was finished, the war was won, but the soldiers did not wish to go home. And someday, they hope they could be reunited once again._

**Well, I hope you like it. The good thing about these stories is, besides these last two chapters, each one is self-contained stories. This means that if I take a break from writing them sometime, there are no horrible cliffhangers to torment readers for months at a time. I decided that it would be good for Ai and Mako to for once get near the action, even if only for a moment. If you like them, I might do others later and maybe from earlier in season 3, but right now the muse has abandoned me, at least the digimon muse has. I did like writing these so I'll come back someday. Enjoy all my stories, not just this one, please. Thank you for reading and please let me know your opinions.**

**P.S. I own nothing.**


	6. What if Impmon beat Indramon?

**I live!!! I have been working on my various stories (including my digimon story "Destiny"), but one of my reviews for this story caught my attention. Lilac Flames asked "What if Impmon beat Indramon?" Now at first, I wanted to reject it as impossible. Then, I wondered if it was even possible. There is no way for that rookie digimon to beat a Deva on his own. But what if he wasn't a rookie? This intrigued me, but how could it happen? This pulled me out of my break on this story. Behold, a fan-requested What If? for the masses. I don't know how good it will be since it was someone else's idea. But here it is.**

**I also added a trait that is called the "inner voice." Just like a conscience and voice of reason, everyone has a inner voice that gives advice and tells when something is a dumb idea. Exactly like Jiminy from "Pinocchio." Impmon will not get along the best with his. Again, hope you like it.**

_Time and space are so flexible. A single change, a single action, can cause reality to spiral in a new direction. A sad ending can become happy, or a victory can become a defeat. All can be altered by the tiniest events._

_At what point is it too late to change one's fate and when can a disaster be diverted? When you take a life? When you make a deal with evil for power? Or when you lose all hope for a dream? Could a painful defeat that destroys all confidence really be a turning point? There are various key points in time and space, any of which may become a turning point._

_It is called the Butterfly Effect. A small change causes drastic changes._

Impmon was slammed once more by a giant hoof. The horse Deva, Indramon, was monstrously huge compared to his current opponent. The purple rookie had challenged the Deva, wishing to prove his strength to… who? Who was he trying to convince? Indramon? The tamers and their digi-slaves? Himself?

He knew he wanted power. He knew he wanted to be stronger and digivolve. He wanted to show everyone he wasn't weak and didn't need anyone. That was why he was futilely attempting to destroy a creature the size of a building. His various flames sent at Indramon made little impression. Even better, his humiliating attack was being witnessed. Renamon watched as Impmon received another blow, her icy blue gaze expressionless.

"At least fox-face is staying out of it," he thought as another hoof landed on him.

* * *

Two rambunctious four year olds, whose similar appearance announced their obvious relation to one another, were working on their mother's last nerve. A simple shopping trip was becoming a screaming match between the twins. As they followed their mother from store to store, their raised voices in argument announced their presence long before they could be spotted.

"Ai took my favorite toy gun," cried the boy, his finger pointing accusingly at his sister.

She retaliated with, "Well, I know you stole my purple crayon yesterday. I couldn't finish my picture."

"Nuh-uh," he shot back, "You just lost it."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Ai! Mako!" their mother finally interrupted, "If you can't behave for five minutes, I'll leave you at home next time." Her patience was nearly gone with the young pair. "There is supposed to be a new bookstore somewhere around here, so please be quiet while I try to find it."

The young pair sank into a sullen silence. The glumly trailed their mother, sending evil glares at each other. Without the right to fight, what else were the two children supposed to do?

_In another time and place, this shopping trip would be like any other. Here and now, a chance glance and a gut feeling lead the twins beyond the safety of their parent's side._

Ai, looking for anything to entertain her now that she wasn't arguing, saw something between the buildings. Down an alley, to the next street, was a strange fog. It almost looked like a cloud out of the sky just sat down at ground level and wouldn't move. She stopped walking. Her brother, who was trying to steal his gun back, stopped too. Their mother, intent on finding the store, didn't even notice immediately.

"Mako," whispered Ai, "Look at that."

"It's just fog," he shrugged, reaching for his toy.

Ai shook her head, "No, something's wrong with it. Let's go look!"

"But Mommy might get mad," he pointed out, looking at their parent's retreating form.

"It will only take a minute," she assured. "Don't be a baby." She took off at a jog, her brother following.

A moment too late, their mother checked over her shoulder, "Ai? Mako?"

* * *

The purple rookie was slowly being pounded flat by the purple Deva. He silently growled at the unfairness of the fight. The sheer power of the Deva completely outmatched the fire-tossing imp.

"You challenged him," his voice of reason pointed out.

"Yeah, to show I'm strong," he shot back, "Not to get the living snot beat out of me. If I could digivolve, I would cream this pony."

His rational side suggested, "If you are so jealous of their ability to digivolve, then consider why the tamer's digimon can and you can't."

"I don't need no stinking humans to make me strong. I'm not like one of those pathetic digi-slaves that go crawling to their tamers because they're too weak to be alone. I don't need humans fighting over me, screaming, and making me into their little obedient, mindless pet! I don't need them!" he told himself.

"Then why do you sometimes go and watch them in the window? Why do you stay near them? Why are you letting yourself get beaten just to prove you don't need them?"

He hated his voice of reason, "Shut up!"

Another hoofmark on his head was just the distraction he needed, as was the extreme pain. Apparently his inner voice found it hard to argue when their life was in danger. Renamon continued to watch, allowing him to finish his idiotic challenge rather than interrupt. She even prevented the other digi-slaves and tamers from interfering.

Indramon paused in his strikes, which grabbed Impmon's attention. Not that he liked being slowly converted two-dimensional, but at least it was consistent. He already was figuring which insults were bad ideas with this guy, but most comments had fewer effects on Deva. Besides, he didn't know how to address people if he didn't make fun of them.

"Hey, purple pony," he groaned, trying to climb to his feet. He looked in the direction Indramon's attention was now focused. It took a moment for him to identify what he was seeing. Two small figures were stumbling through the digital field. They were rubbing their eyes, which was a normal response for humans first entering the fog. That was why the tamers wore sunglasses, or goggles in the idiotic Takato's case. Impmon also recognized the pair of children: Ai and Mako. They were entering on the side opposite of the tamers and their digimon, with Impmon and Indramon in the middle. Only the two purple digimon could see them so far. He quickly added, "I thought this was a battle, not a dancing contest. Stop dawdling and get over here so I can knock you into next Tuesday."

"We will finish our duel momentarily, small one," the Deva told him. "However, one of my Sovereign's primary orders must be handled first."

"Great," Impmon growled to himself, "The big dork is going to squash the twins before he finishes me off. Why do I care? I don't need them. I never want to see their faces ever again. So why am I trying to distract gigantor away from them?"

"Because you do care," a smug sounding inner voice told him. "You can't admit it, but you don't want them to get hurt."

"How many times do I have to tell you to shut up. Honestly, if I wanted a conscience, I would have found a talking cricket so I could squash him if he gets annoying," he grumbled to himself. He then shouted at the towering digimon, "Get back here, you coward! This is between you and me. No distractions or outside help."

"It will only take a moment, I promise you. Unless you have some reason to protect them?"

Ai and Mako stopped rubbing their eyes as much. They were a lot closer now as well. The group of the goodie-goodies had finally spotted the young children. Not willing to risk going straight across the battle ground, they circled around the two digimon and moved towards the helpless bystanders. Apparently they intended to save the innocent bystanders in their usual "hero" roles.

"Good," thought Impmon, "The pineapple-head brigade can deal with them. I don't want anything to do with them anyway. I wouldn't care if he splattered them, the pony freak."

"Really?" his inner voice asked, "You know that's not true."

"Quiet! I don't care about them at all! I just want to be strong."

Towards the Deva, he shouted, "I hate humans. They are sickening creatures. They argue and fight. They're greedy and spiteful. If you are stupid enough to get near them and turn into a digi-slave, they act like they own you. I've seen it happen. They boss you around, and treat you like a pet or overgrown toy. The smartest thing you can do is escape first chance you get. You can wipe out all of them as far as I care. Who needs them?"

Ai and Mako stared now, looking at the two purple digimon before them. They recognized him and heard every word that Impmon spouted. The young twins had heard him refer to them and describe them with so much anger. They now knew how he truly felt towards humanity. And their expressions look heart-broken. He refused to meet their eyes. He didn't need them. He never did. He never even liked them to begin with.

"Very well," Indramon swung his arm, knocking the twin's rescue party away, leaving Ai and Mako shaking. The older children hadn't even get near them. Now, they were tossed in a crumbled pile of kids and digimon. Useless tamers. The young pair were alone and undefended in any way now. "I will destroy them, then."

Ai looked straight at Impmon, tears pouring down her young face. Mako held a toy gun up at the giant digimon. All those memories of them screaming at each other and being trapped in the middle of the two just evaporated. They were his twins. They were his twins and they were in danger. Ai bowed her head and whispered something. He couldn't hear her, but he could read her lips.

"We're sorry."

Man, this is not going to end well for a certain rookie. He just knew it. But he couldn't stop himself either.

"Guess what," Impmon shouted up at the giant creature, "You look like a donkey's rear end. Know what that makes you, stinky?" Indramon tilted his head at the suicidal rookie. "Oh please, even an idiot like you should be able to figure it out. Or does your Sovereign only recruit members with similar I.Q. points to himself?"

The blow was not unexpected, but it still hurt. In fact, everything hurt. That Deva packed quite a punch. Only a complete idiot would continue to bait the giant digimon.

"Maybe he picks digimon smarter than him," he groaned, "Doesn't say much if so. You really aren't that bright. Argh…"

This blow sent flying across the ground. Lovely, jumbo was really mad now. And Impmon was the target of his rage.

"How dare you insult the Sovereign?!" Indramon screamed at him. "I will make you pay. I went easy on you before, but now there will be no mercy."

Impmon wondered if it would be less painful just to lie there and get killed. Probably, but he had to keep donkey-face focused on him. Obviously, he had succeeded in infuriating a huge and powerful being, but that wasn't everything. Even extremely annoyed creatures can be distracted away from the fire-tossing digimon. Indramon had to continue his attack on the rookie. Stupid plan and stupid idea, yet he couldn't do otherwise. His twins needed him.

"You happy, conscience?" he wondered, "I admit I like the twerps. I don't want to see them get hurt. Even if I'm the one who gets smashed instead."

"And…" the stupid voice prompted.

"And I need them, okay?" he snarled. "I need them to be alright. I need to know they are safe and happy. I… I never should have left like that. Now I'm depending on some losers to have enough sense to get them out of here. Ai and Mako may be pains in the neck to deal with, but I'm not the easiest guy either. So, let's keep gigantor from crushing them."

* * *

The tamers and digimon had been flung by Indramon. Bruised and sore from their flight, they struggled once more to their feet. The Deva halted his approach on the young children in favor of a loud-mouth rookie. Impmon was tossing insults at the horse Deva in an insane fashion. The reward for his words was Indramon's complete and total attention. A bad thing for him, but good for the tamers. Rika grabbed hold of the small kids who were staring at the purple digimon. The older girl figured they had never seen a digimon before.

"Come on," she commanded the pair, "You need to get out of here."

"He hates us," the tiny girl whispered. Renamon studied the pair more closely as the child continued, "He hates us. We were bad and now he hates us."

"Calm down," Rika ordered, "The Devas hate all humans."

"I don't think they're talking about Indramon," Renamon stated, finally realizing where she had seen these humans before.

"Well, Impmon hates everybody, too," Terriermon added. "It's nothing personal. He's just a jerk."

Henry warned, "Terriermon, be nice."

"Open your eyes for a moment," Renamon told the group. "He isn't just insulting Indramon for the fun of it. He's distracting him. He's keeping him busy."

"Why?" Takato asked reasonably.

Instead of answering, the fox digimon turned to the young twins, "You know Impmon, don't you? You know him well."

The boy nodded, grasping a plastic gun tightly, "He was our friend. But he ran away from us. It's our fault, isn't it? We were mean to him and he left."

"He's your partner, isn't he?" understanding filling the older girl's eyes. "That little, annoying, lying…"

* * *

Said liar cried out in pain as another of the Deva's arms smashed down. Any second now, he would lose what little power he had left and would be destroyed. Unfortunately, his shout caused the twins to scream his name. Thus, Indramon was reminded of the other targets. The angry Deva saw he had been tricked so that the children could be saved. And he was not happy about it one bit.

"For someone who claims to hate humans," Indramon told the fallen digimon, "you seem eager to prevent their destruction."

"I'm… the biggest… hypocrite ever," he panted slowly, "Leave them… alone. They… are pests, but… they're my pests."

Indramon glared down through his white hair, "You are just like the rest of them. My master wishes for the destruction of humans and digimon loyal to them. That must include you it seems."

"Good," he spat at the towering form above him, "Then I won't have to see your ugly mug anymore." He painfully and tiredly climbed to his feet. He was going to face the creep standing. "Come on! You've been trying to kill me all day. Why not finish the job?"

"I will shortly, but I will give you a moment so you may attempt to defend yourself honorably," he informed the rookie. "Until then, there are others."

Ai and Mako, Impmon realized. After all that effort, Indramon was still going to try and kill them. They were his twerps. If anyone was going to make those two sorry to be alive, it would not be some petting zoo reject. He knew that the others would try to protect them, but he had to help somehow. His twins, his responsibility. Terrrific, he was starting to sound like pineapple-head, fox-face, and bunny boy. Even worse, he didn't care. He finally admits he likes the twins and no one would touch them while he was around. He staggered in the direction of the group, oblivious to the digivolutions of the other digimon.

Staggering became walking, and walking became running. The pain slid away under new strength and determination. Running became soaring as the small rookie grew and changed form. By the time he grabbed Ai and Mako, he was a mega. Now this was power. Holding them close, Beelzemon flew the pair away from the danger. He ignored the stunned looks from the tamers and digimon alike. Who cared? He had digivolved finally.

"Because you admitted you need humans. Just like with the others, your bond with your tamers made you strong," his inner voice reminded him. "You were strong for them, not yourself."

"Okay, okay," he grumbled, "I get it. Go team. Now I have some payback on a certain Deva." He set the pair of brown-haired kids down, a safe distance from the action. Addressing the children, he commanded, "You stay here, shrimps. I've got to go blast some creep." He had already spotted his new weaponry and it excited him greatly.

"Wait," Mako cried. He handed his toy gun to the huge mega. "That way you can shoot the bad guys" As the piece of plastic left the boy's grasp, it morphed. It grew larger, more deadly-looking, and definitely real. "Wow!"

Beelzemon grinned evilly, "He won't know what hit him." With that, he took flight once more. "Oh Indramon!" he called cheerfully.

The Deva was currently combating a trio of digimon. The giant horn that had previously been attached to his back was now floating to his waiting hooves. No one had to say anything to know that letting the creature use the thing would not be a good idea. And now someone could do something about it.

Raising his newest weapon, courtesy of the twins, Beelzemon shouted, "Corona Blaster!"

A high energy blast fired at the horse Deva. Unlike his earlier attempts, this definitely made an impact on Indramon. The giant took several steps back and fell to one knee with a loud crash.

"Now this is more like it," the mega grinned, "Listen, you purple pony freak. You and your master need to know something. The only one allowed to make humans miserable around here is me."

"You cannot stop what is coming," Indramon warned.

Beelzemon raised his weapon once more, "But I can sure try. Corona Destroyer!"

And the digimon, who moments before nearly killed Impmon, was destroyed himself. The fog dispersed away. Beelzemon landed, feeling extremely smug. He digivolved to mega. None of the other digimon around the area had gone beyond ultimate. He didn't need any stinking…

Ai and Mako ran over cheering. Okay, maybe they weren't too bad. Of course, the tamers and their digimon would never let him hear the end of this. All well, who cared? He could always go mega and teach them a lesson.

A panicked voice, a woman's, carried over to them. The twins froze, looking guilty. Beelzemon finally recognized it as well: their mother. He couldn't very well take them back and explain they were busy being threatened by a giant horse. Henry, apparently grasping the situation, took the pair's hands.

"Don't worry," he told the mega, "I'll say they got separated from her and I found them."

Beelzemon nodded gratefully and took off before anyone could start questioning him. Otherwise, he would be there all day talking about his past and attacking Terriermon for smart-aleck comments.

_And more Devas came to the human world. Impmon, not entirely at ease with being back with the twins, still explored the city and scared couples in the park. But now, he had somewhere to come back to. Ai and Mako tried not to fight in return. Chatsuramon, who once would have tried to tempt Impmon to join him and the Digimon Sovereign, found no willing pawn awaiting him._

_When the tamers and digimon would have entered the digital world in search of the stolen Calumon, Impmon refused._

"No, I am not taking a pair of four year olds into the digital world," he growled. He hadn't been a partner for long, but he was determined to do it right. He wasn't going to be a gullible idiot like Guilmon who went along with anything, but he wasn't going to be unreasonable either. Still, it was well within his right to protect his tamers from danger. "I absolutely am not."

"Please, Impmon," Ai begged, giving her purple friend the saddest expression she could.

"Come on," pleaded Mako, "All the others are going."

"Not going to happen, Shorty," he explained. "And don't think you can sucker me into it. The older kids agree that it is a bad idea too. We are staying here. And that's final."

He should have known better.

_Caving to the whims of his manipulative partners, Impmon and the twins accompanied the rest to the digital world, giving extra power to the group against the various foes. Leomon survived the trip because no crazed Beelzemon obeying the orders of Chatsuramon was there to kill him. Jeri never sank into her hopeless depression and allowed the D-reaper to follow them back to the human world. The D-reaper sought an alternate, but slower, route to attack that world. This gave time for the Monster Makers more time to conceive a program that would only affect the D-reaper and not the digimon. Thus, after the destruction of the pink blob, the digimon could remain where they wanted: with their friends._

**And there it is. I hope it turned out alright. Impmon never turned evil and he beat Indramon. Surprisingly, this was actually interesting to do after I thought up how to do it. The idea wasn't mine, but it was a cool concept to do. Let me know what you thought.**


	7. What if Jeri took his hand?

**Another fan-suggested What If? is here. This one is courtesy of SnowWhiteShadow. He/she suggested I write what would happen if, during his rescue attempt, Jeri took hold of Beelzemon's hand. To make this work well, I had to first back up and examine a few key facts. One, Jeri's negative feelings is being used by the D-reaper to fuel it. Two, when Beelzemon used Leomon's power to break in, not only do we see his image imposed over the mega, but Jeri is honestly convinced it is her partner as well. Hence, her shock and horror of being confronted by Beelzemon is increased by the earlier hope she had. Three, those stupid flying defense things of the D-reaper had been chasing Gallantmon around and end up hitting Beelzemon several moments AFTER his failure to save Jeri, not immediately after. These things were important for me to keep in mind when writing this.**

**And it takes awhile for me to implement the change because I have to set the scene and mood with what occurs before that important moment. So, I rewind to before Beelzemon succeeds in cracking open the Kernel Sphere. Enjoy.**

_Time and space are so flexible. A single change, a single action, can cause reality to spiral into a new direction. A sad ending can become happy, or a victory can become a defeat. All can be altered by the tiniest events._

_Choices are something everyone can make. If someone chooses to speak out, one set of events can occur. Words are powerful. But silence can be just as powerful. If one does not speak their mind, to remain silent and truly look at what is before them, they may change their choice. It can pay to think before you speak and to try to see the truth first. And the new choice may be for the better._

_It is called the Butterfly Effect. A tiny change can lead to drastic changes._

How long had he been pounding away? It seemed like he had been punching the smooth surface forever. Each strike was tiring and even painful. But he couldn't stop. Not yet. He had to save her. Even if it was the last thing he ever did, Beelzemon had to rescue Jeri.

It was all his fault. Everything was his fault. Even that stupid D-reaper eyeball knew it. It had spoken in Jeri's voice too. That stupid program summed up everything with a simple phrase.

"Beelzemon, the digimon who destroyed Leomon."

That act was the point where everything began to spiral out of control. No. He messed up everything before then. When he accepted that stupid deal with Chatsuramon. He had sold out everyone he knew. Just to digivolve. Even when he had killed Jeri's partner, that girl still refused to see another life end. Jeri had saved Beelzemon when he didn't deserve it. He had to save her now.

The fact the other mega digimon were whirling around the area like oversized insects barely registered in Beelzemon's mind. They were probably fighting more D-reaper stuff. That psycho program had more shapes and add-ons than what seemed fair. But the dark mega ignored them. He just continued his relentless punching.

He had to save her. She wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for him. And she no longer had a partner to protect her. That evil, chaotic D-reaper had decided to take Jeri because she was alone, depressed, and vulnerable. The reason she was like that was now trying to free her. He was why she alone and unprotected. It was his fault.

The truth was inescapable and unchangeable. It was his fault, it was unforgivable, but he still had to save her. This thought kept his exhausted, sore arms repeating the endless motion of punching the perfect sphere that held her captive.

But it wasn't enough. Every blow left not a mark on Jeri's prison. Every strike left him with less energy for the next. He couldn't give up, but he couldn't win. Not on his own. Anytime the digi-slaves didn't have the strength on their own, they could turn to their tamers. While he had used to scorn their reliance on human partners, he wished he could receive that help now. But his own tamers of Ai and Mako, who he had just shortly been reunited with, were far from the fighting and safe. Besides, they didn't even have a D-arc. Beelzemon was on his own. There was nowhere to seek the strength to break Jeri free but within himself.

However, inside that stubborn and guilt-ridden digimon was a source of strength and help he had never considered. One that desired the girl's rescue even more deeply than the fallen angel/biker gang member mega. Some friendships last beyond death.

* * *

A girl in a green dress sat in a spherical prison. Her connection to reality was fleeting at best. When she sunk into despair at the loss of her partner, she had hurt so badly and felt so alone that nothing was too great a price to pay to escape the suffering. When offered a chance to stop feeling, she took it. Now, all the negative emotions that she felt were being used by the D-reaper to fuel its attempts to destroy everything that evolved too far: humans and digimon. This left Jeri numb and nearly lifeless as a doll.

Sharing her small space was a white creature she used to know as Calumon. She barely noticed his efforts to motivate her to stop acting so strange. Sometimes, she would come far enough out of her numbness to say a name like the tiny digimon with her or the goggle-wearing boy she had once been friends with, Takato. At times, she could nearly tell he was near. But she would still slip back into the emotionless solitude of her mind.

Calumon had been shouting for sometime about someone trying to save them. Jeri barely responded to the digital creature's enthusiasm about a rescue. At a few points, she had nearly felt like herself, but the D-reaper kept pulling her back into her numb state.

Something was happening outside the smooth sphere she sat in. Something so familiar. It reminded her of…

* * *

An unexpected power began to flow through his tired limbs. Beelzemon paused in his futile punches as this strength took over. Somehow, he didn't know how, he could tell this mysterious new energy wanted him to succeed in his efforts. It wanted Jeri safe and it would help the mega to do it.

A voiceless instruction came with the power. No words, just a sense of what the mega need to do. He held up his fist. All that strength and strange energy began to gather there. A really strong energy that came from some unknown source.

Or was it unknown? The longer the power gathered, the more oddly familiar it seemed. Beelzemon knew he had never used this power before, but it was reminding him of… Someone. Someone important.

* * *

Leomon. Whatever was outside the bubble she was trapped in felt like Leomon. She couldn't explain it, but the figure was holding up its fist to the sky. She could almost see her partner there. Jeri could nearly make out his golden mane and sword strapped to his side. He looked odd: translucent and almost like he was covering another shape with his own form. But Jeri couldn't get past a single thought that she held onto with all her heart and soul. Leomon.

The joy and hope the very idea of her returned partner presented forced the numbness and darkness that had clouded her mind. The light of her deep conviction that her friend was back overpowered the effects the D-reaper had caused.

And what convinced her even further that Leomon was truly back was what he said as he attacked the sphere once more. Jeri did not even think to check her D-arc to confirm what she believed had to be true.

* * *

Leomon. The strange power was Leomon's. Beelzemon could feel that digimon strongly now. He knew in theory he could access the strength and attacks of those whose data he had absorbed. In fact, he had done so in his fight against the pineapple-head and the rest of the gang. But this felt different. It was like the leonine warrior was giving his blessing to his murderer to use it. As if he wanted to help save Jeri even in death. It was a little creepy because it almost seemed like Leomon was right there with him. The mega digimon could practically see him. But that was beside the point.

The point was that this felt like a one shot deal. Beelzemon was tired and sore. His knuckles were throbbing and his arms felt like lead. And while this power may be what he needed, he didn't think he could manage a second try of what he was about to do.

And how did he know what he was doing? How could he explain that the ghost of someone he killed was guiding his actions and not sound insane? No way really, but if it got Jeri out, he didn't care.

That power could be exactly what would do it too. Pulling his fist back, Beelzemon screamed out an attack that had belong to a champion digimon who should never have died in the first place.

"Fist of the Beast King!"

The blow accomplished what none of his other punches could. The perfectly smooth surface cracked. The crack spread until a section of Jeri's prison shattered apart, leaving a hole and an exhausted digimon.

* * *

The attack was her partner's. Jeri knew this just as she knew her own name. But the figure, panting and filling the opening was not her familiar friend, Leomon. Though she didn't remember those black wings that stretched behind him nor did she recall his eyes being green, she knew exactly who he was. Beelzemon. Calumon seemed excited by that digimon's appearance, but the girl cringed back in fear and heartache.

The three-eyed creature brought back all the pain the D-reaper had been siphoning away for power. He had attacked her and her friends in hopes of destroying them all. He'd heartlessly struck out in a power-hungry craze, trying to end all their lives. And he had succeeded for one of them. And now he was back.

The broken edges of the sphere suddenly began to try and grow back together. The monstrous killer began to attempt to hold the opening and stretched out a hand towards her.

"Jeri, take my hand. Please. Let me save you," he begged her.

Calumon seemed to be trying to tell her the same thing, but all she could do was stare in horror at Beelzemon's clawed hand. The same hand he used to attack them so cruelly. And the same clawed hand that stabbed Leomon and left her alone. And now, he was begging her to grab it.

Her mind kept chanting one phrase over and over, "You're not Leomon. You're not Leomon. You're not Leomon."

For the briefest moment she had dared to hope. She had truly believed her dear friend was back. But Beelzemon had shattered that joyful illusion. The loss of that hope made her feel like she had just lost her partner anew. And after not feeling anything for so long, the shock of it was just too awful.

She could only express her emotional state, the hurt, the disappointment, the fear, and the despair in one way. The words that were pounding in her mind so loudly. You're not Leomon.

_She could have spoken these words to Beelzemon. Jeri could have refused to take the offered hand until it was too late. She could have remained trapped longer while Beelzemon suffered for his decision to be a hero. The D-reaper could have continued its attempt to use Jeri's negative feelings as a power source. The speed at which the D-reaper spread would be undiminished until the end._

_But, here and now, Jeri did not speak. Instead, she looked._

Slowly, she closed her mouth, the words still on her tongue. Something was not right. Beelzemon's eyes had been red as blood and filled with a crazed look to match. These eyes were emerald green. They did not look violent and savage. They were haunted and pleading. He looked so tired and so weighed down by guilt. He wasn't a monster, seeking more chaos and bloodshed. He was a lost soul, searching for redemption for what he knows cannot be undone.

As painful as his arrival had been for her, it seemed he was doing no better. The wall was nearly fixed, the hole shrinking rapidly. Jeri took Calumon in one hand.

And she took hold of Beelzemon's offered hand.

* * *

As soon as he felt the girl's grip, he yanked her and the little cream puff through. Jeri probably scraped against the sides as the hole pulled shut. He held the two close to him as he adjusted his flapping to deal with the added weight. He could hear all the Biomerged megas cheering about Jeri being out. That was fine until Gallantmon began yelling in a more panicked voice.

"Beelzemon, watch out!"

The warning was nearly too late. The dark mega closed his wings and rapidly dropped, barely dodging the blocks of doom that had been chasing the knight earlier. Apparently, the D-reaper took it as a killing offense to steal his hostage. And now Beelzemon was on its hit list. Lovely.

"Hang on, you guys," he instructed, getting a firmer grip on the pair, "This is going to get interesting."

Pulling skyward, he then proceeded to demonstrate a wide array of aerial maneuvers. Banks, rolls, and hairpin turns were all employed in an attempt to lose the Beelzemon-seeking missles. As he tried to remain ahead of the D-reaper tools, Gallantmon and the others gave their best efforts to reduce the number chasing the mega and his passangers. They weren't doing it fast enough because he was exhausted. Too much longer at this and he would either turn back to a rookie and drop out of the sky or he would slow down and get hit. Either way would not be fun for him. Or Jeri and Calumon.

"Do you trust me?" he asked them as they were held tightly against him.

Jeri looked at him silently. He could just imagine her wondering if she could ever trust the person who killed her friend. He couldn't ask for forgiveness. What he had done was unforgivable. But he needed her to trust him for just a few minutes. But since she trusted him enough to take his hand, he hoped she would now. After that, after he did what he needed to save her, it really didn't matter. He just had to save her, even if it was the last thing he ever did.

Sighing heavily, the girl nodded.

"Okay," he grunted, going into a steep dive, "Hold on the powder puff. And don't scream, please."

As he pulled up, he aimed at a very specific digimon. The sooner he got them out of this warzone, the better. So, he needed a fast digimon's help.

"Hey, fox-face," he called, breathing hard, "Get ready to move. And you've got to move fast."

With a spin on his ascent, he tossed a curled up Jeri at the surprised mega. Naturally, the girl and tiny white digimon in her grasp screamed loudly as she flew through the air. Sakuyamon wasn't too surprised that she could catch her and get moving. The D-reaper, apparently not noticing the switch immediately, kept after him for a few more moments. Just enough time to stand and fight.

"Double Impact!" he snarled, opening fire on his pursuers.

As he had known, his shots could not possibly destroy all of them. But he wasn't going for that anyway. He gave a sad grin as Gallantmon, MegaGargomon, and Justimon shouted for him to move. He wouldn't have been able to get out of the way anyway. He was too tired and too slow to escape. But he had done it. Jeri was on her way to safety. At least he had done something right.

As the creepy D-reaper blocks struck him head on, his whole world became nothing but pain. But he didn't really care anymore. How many times had he almost died recently? Indramon, Gallantmon, and even those little Chrysalimon had all almost ended his miserable existence. At least this time, he was doing something worthwhile. Delaying the D-reaper so Sakuyamon had more time to escape. So, maybe it wasn't so bad.

He was falling, falling down towards the pink mass that was the D-reaper. Voices screamed his name, but it was so hard to hear. So much pain. He couldn't concentrate enough to make out their words. He could feel his body… vibrate. Frizz out of focus. He had felt this somewhat when he fought Indramon. He was about to dissolve into data or he had already started. His vision darkened.

Jeri. Ai. Mako. Three humans that was so important to him. He had saved Jeri and made up with the twins. Too bad he wouldn't see any of them again. But, at least he had gone out on a positive note with them. They were his last thoughts as he was swallowed up by the darkness.

* * *

Jeri was now in the arms of a yellow digimon. She didn't know her really, but she could guess at the fox-like being's identity. This must be the mega form of Renamon. Apparently the various digimon had finally reached the same level as Gallantmon in his battle against Beelzemon. Which meant the digimon holding her was also Rika. Whoever it was, she was moving the girl and white digimon away from danger. And away from the dark shape of a certain mega digimon.

"Renamon, Rika, whoever you are," began Jeri carefully, "What's going on? Where are we going? What's happening?"

"We're Sakuyamon," she explained, moving quickly away from the nearly ruined Hypnos towers, "And right now we're busy rescuing you from the D-reaper. Which is where you've been trapped for a while your creepy doppelganger kept us busy."

"But what about…" Jeri tried to ask, but suddenly stopped. Was she really concerned about Beelzemon? It was one thing to accept his help, but another to be worrying about him. But, strange as it was, she was. He looked so tired and hurt. He needed help. They couldn't leave him back there to be killed. He may have killed Leomon, but he seemed so different now. Even in only the few minutes Jeri had been with him, he was obviously not the same as before when he went on a crazed rampage. "You have to go back. Beelzemon need help."

Her voice was harsh as she answered the girl, filled with emotion that gave lie to her apparent resolve to remain logical about it. "We can't do that. It would be crazy to take you back there. You could get killed. We need to get you somewhere safe first."

A shout from behind them grabbed the arguing pair and Calumon's attention. A black shape was falling and leaving a stream of dissolving data behind. His battered and broken body was barely recognizable at that distance and in that poor shape. But all of those who could see him could identify him far too easily. Jeri screamed along with the others.

"Beelzemon! No!!!"

Her rescuer, her friend's killer, was dying. All because he wanted to save her. Because he couldn't live with what he had done to Leomon. To her. She screamed out again, wanting him to stop falling. To stop dying. Just like how Leomon did. She couldn't stand that idea.

A red and gold shape raced past where Sakuyamon held her two passangers. It flew at an incredible speed towards the diminishing figure that was causing them all such concern. Just before he reached the D-reaper, the odd shape caught up with him. Pulling up, they could just make out a small purple being resting on it.

"Grani," whispered the yellow feminine digimon to Jeri and Calumon. "The Ark they sent to get us out of the digital world is alive, Jeri, and I think it just… saved him."

As Grani pulled close to where Jeri was held, she could make out an unconscious Impmon. He looked horrible, but alive. The girl stretched out towards the strange ship.

"What are…" Sakuyamon tried to inquire, but Jeri cut her off suddenly.

"You should go help the others," she explained, her expression firm. "I'll catch a lift with these two. I'll be fine. Go on."

Seeing the girl's face, filled with determination, the fox-lady nodded and helped her climb aboard. Calumon floated over, looking concerned at Impmon's still form. Grani waited patiently as the brown-haired child got comfortable. They were far enough at least the D-reaper wasn't actively trying to get them. In fact, it looked a little sluggish now in the Biomerged mega's opinion.

"Be careful. Everyone was so concerned over you. You should have seen your father. Not to mention Takato," Rika's voice told her. Jeri felt herself blush a little. "So, where ever you land, try to call someone quick."

As Grani took off towards the city, Jeri looked down at poor Impmon. He seemed so helpless now. He wasn't scaring people with fireballs or shooting everything in sight. He was just… helpless. Because he was rescuing her. And she almost didn't let him.

"Don't worry," she whispered. "You'll be fine."

As the animated Ark flew away, Sakuyamon quietly mused to herself, "She really does have the heart of a lion."

* * *

The part of town that Grani took them was not very familiar to the girl. But it landed in the backyard of one of the houses. Jeri didn't know why, but that was what it wanted to go. As she slid off, holding the limp form of Impmon and Calumon gliding onto her head, Grani took flight once more. Leaving the trio in a strange area she didn't know.

Most of the lights were out except for the soft glow of a television in what she guessed to be a living room and an even dimmer light in a bedroom. Unsure of what to do, Jeri was about to go around to the street when a soft, breathy whisper stopped her.

"Ai. Mako."

Glancing down, she could see a pair of emerald green eyes barely opened. They seemed focused on the bedroom window. Before she could say or do anything else, Impmon's eyes shut once more and his deep breathes told her he was asleep once more.

Working up the nerve, Jeri timidly tapped on the window. After a few moments, a pair of sleepy heads popped into view. The young two looked out at her, Calumon, and Impmon. As their gaze fell on the purple digimon, they froze. The girl slowly opened the window and leaned out.

"Impmon?" she whispered frightened, "What happened to him?"

"Who are you?" asked Jeri slowly, starting to work out what was happening.

"I'm Mako," the boy answered quietly, "and this is Ai. Is he okay?"

Jeri nodded hesitantly, "He got hurt by the D-reaper, but I think he'll be alright once he rests for awhile. Are you his… tamers?"

The pair of head nodded, their faces still etched with deep concern. Jeri carefully pulled herself in through the window, taking care not to bump the digimon she was holding. The two siblings, twins if she had to guess, watch uneasily as she placed Impmon on their bed. He groaned lightly as she transferred him, but didn't really wake up.

"I'm going to go around to the front of the house and ask your parents to borrow the phone," the older girl explained quietly. "You can't act like you know me. And if your parents ask about Impmon…"

Ai told the girl, "We'll pretend he's a toy. Thanks for… helping him and everything. We love him and we've missed him so much."

"He ran away from us a long time ago," the boy explained further, "We used to fight over him all the time, so he left us. But he came back when the pink thing showed up all over the TV."

Jeri looked at them carefully, "Don't worry. Everything will be fine."

She climbed out slowly, being quiet as possible. The young tamers looked at her as she started to leave.

"What's your name anyway?" Ai quickly asked.

"Jeri," she answered as she turned to leave.

* * *

_A strange girl asking to borrow the phone in the fading twilight is not a common occurrence, but everything that had to do with the last few days and the pink blob was unusual. Jeri called the others to tell them she was alright and on her way back. Ai and Mako's father even volunteered to give her a lift. The reunion was so happy for all involved. Even Yamaki and the Monster Makers working with him seemed excited. But for a different reason._

_The progression of the D-reaper had not been stopped, but it had been slowed. Without Jeri's negative feelings to feed off of, its mutations and spreading was diminished in speed. The change in rate gave Janyu Wong especially hope._

There was a possible solution to the D-reaper. He had already planted it in Terriermon. But the consequences… Henry would hate him. At the time, the D-reaper had been progressing so quickly and doing so much damage, he did what he had to in order to save everyone. But now, they had more time. They could try something else. Something less drastic and more specific. But how to do it? His son would be suspicious if he asked to "borrow" his digimon again. Not to mention that it might not work out.

He sighed slowly. One day. If he could work out something a little more specific for the D-reaper that would have… fewer side effects, then he could tell Henry that he wanted to double check something. Janyu would make something up if he had to. But only if he came up with _something_ quick. His son, the other children, deserved that much of a chance from him. All he could do was try and hope.

He quickly explained his intentions to his fellow Monster Makers. Most thought he was crazy, that there was no way he could come up with anything feasible in that short a time. Shibumi at least thought there was a chance. And the rest supported his efforts. They remained glued to the computers for the rest of the day.

At dawn, he called in his son.

* * *

_A new program was placed inside Terriermon, one that was altered slightly from before. The red cards handed to the tamers were different as well. The changes were subtle and minute, but important just the same._

_Where the twins rode a train during the night, a digi-gnome gave the pair the gift of a D-arc. When MegaGargomon spun like a Top of Doom, the wormhole connecting the two halves of the D-reaper in the digital and human world together reversed. And since they did not have to attack the Kernel Sphere to rescue Jeri, the rest of the tamers focused their efforts on the various aspects of the D-reaper. Everything seemed to be working as they conquered their foe._

_Until they were celebrating in the park. Shortly after Impmon asked Jeri for forgiveness and received it whole-heartedly to his relief, the digimon noticed something strange. A great weakness._

_But not as great as it could have been._

Before the shocked and frightened tamers eyes, their digimon began to shrink and change. As they began to panic about it, Henry asked the obvious question to the most knowledgeable person there.

"What's happening to them?"

His father, still ashamed of what he was causing, began to explain that it was a side effect of the program. That while the program had de-evolved the D-reaper to practically nothing, it was causing their digimon to de-digivolve as well. This angered and scared those gathered. They didn't want to lose them.

But as suddenly as it had started, they suddenly stopped in the in-training stage. Yaamon, the in-training stage of Impmon, looked around confused.

"Can someone please tell me why I'm now stuck as a pipsqueak," he questioned those gathered in a rather adorable voice. He cringed. "And why I sound so… so…"

"Cute," a rather small Gummymon finished. Even if he wasn't Terriermon, he could still bug people with his lack of tact.

"While we couldn't get rid of all the effects to them in the time we had, we reduced them greatly," Mr. Wong told them breathing a sigh of relief. It had worked. "They should be alright in time. Eventually, they should turn back to normal again."

"So, I'm stuck like this until then?" asked a stunned Yaamon. "Come on! I don't even have any arms or legs! I'm a stinking head!" Ai and Mako gave him a tight hug, causing him to start complaining. "Help, I don't do mushy stuff! Can't breathe! Someone save me. Crazy partners over here."

_The extra time was just enough. A couple weeks later, and everyone was back to their usual forms. The digimon didn't have to return to the digital world, thanks to the altered program. It all came from Jeri and her decision to take Beelzemon's hand. She took his hand and everything changed._

**I think this one turned out pretty good. And if you're wondering why Jeri just not being depressed anymore, like in the whole "What if they missed the Ark" story, isn't enough to cut off the whole feeding off her negative feelings, it's because she still felt guilt and stuff. This time, she left the sphere entirely. Which slowed the D-reaper down just enough. Let me know if you liked it. Thanks.**


End file.
